Lucky Charm
by maryeemeeh
Summary: After Blake left for Factor Blue, Tori and Hunter become closer friends than ever. But what happens when they get too attached and Blake suddenly comes back? COMPLETED! Chapters 1-21 ALL POSTED and REVISED!
1. Intro: Charm Bracelet

**NOTE:** This is my first Tori/Hunter fic, so enjoy and please leave some reviews, comments, whatever.  
  
**QUICK SUMMARY:** Hunter gets an unexpected surprise in his dream.  
  
**"Charm Bracelet"**  
  
_It was a beautiful day at the beach in Blue Bay Harbor as the sun began to slowly set. Hunter was walking along in the sand, barefooted and shirtless with his khaki pants slightly rolled up. He stops and faces the water, watching people surf near the current and listening to the clashing waves. Hunter closes his eyes as the wind swept past him, blowing his dirty blonde hair away from his green eyes. He walks along the shore till he stepped on something hard that made him looked down. It felt like a rock, but it was something else. He lifted his foot to see what was under, and there laid a silver charm bracelet. Hunter squints his eyes as he bent down to pick it up. He examined it real closely. There were miniature hearts and little bells that cling on the bracelet. Hunter held it tightly and quickly stuffed it in his pocket.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hey Tor." Hunter calls out as soon as he reached the other side of the beach. Tori was laying on the sand, wearing her blue board shorts and a bikini top. Her hair was wet from surfing as she put on some suntan lotion. Hunter stops as he stares at the beauty for a moment.  
  
"Hunter!" She smiles, getting up from the sandy grounds. "What are you doing here?"  
  
He shakes his head and comes back to reality. "Oh I was just walking around and found this." Hunter takes out the charm bracelet and dangles it in front of Tori. "Is this yours?" He asks.  
  
Tori gasps and stares at it wide-eyed. "Oh my God! I've been looking for this since I was little! But I gave up on it a long time ago. Where'd you find it?"  
  
"I found it on the other side of the beach while I was walking. Luckily I stepped on it. " He answers with a chuckle. Hunter hands her the bracelet.  
  
"I should have known I've lost it here somewhere during my first years of training." Tori exclaims as she looks up at him. "Thank you so much. This means a lot to me."  
  
"No problem." He smiles.  
  
"Now it's time for me to return the favor."  
  
"Well that's not necessa- - " Hunter was interrupted by Tori's touch. He felt her fingertips on his lips.  
  
"Shh.." She smiles. Hunter stares at her in confusion as she slowly puts her hand behind his neck.  
  
"Umm...What are you doing?" He asks nervously.  
  
"Kiss me." Tori whispers as she tilts her head and pulls Hunter closer to her face. Suddenly, their lips met and they were both kissing.  
_  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Whoa!" Hunter panted breathlessly as he woke up from his dream. He stood up on his bed, half naked, and sweating nervously. He grabbed the clock from the desktop that read 5:00 AM. "Man, not again." He sighed as he slump back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, not daring to go back to sleep and re-live the same dream. Moments later, Hunter finally shuts his eyes.


	2. Sleeping Problems

**QUICK SUMMARY**: Hunter gets a little freaked out.   
  
**"Sleeping Problems"**  
  
"Dude, I'm serious. I've been getting weird dreams about her..." Hunter trails off. "Err...US. It's freaking me out!"  
  
Shane and Dustin stares at him in surprise.  
  
"Um...wow, man." Dustin starts off, scratching his head. "I don't know what to tell ya, but I think you're falling for her dude."  
  
"Yeah, bro. For real." Shane chuckles. "Talk about freaky."  
  
"No." Hunter nods his head in dismay. "No freaking way am I ever gonna fall for Tori, okay? NOT gonna happen!"

"Hey…what's wrong with Tori?" Shane asks, feeling a bit curious with how Hunter was putting it into words. 

"Nothing, okay?" He sighs deeply. "She's great. It's just- -" Hunter pauses for a second and shook his head with a chuckle. "NO. Tori is like the last girl on Earth I would ever go out with. I mean if you think about it, we are totally opposites."

"Hunter…my man." Shane puts his arm around him. "Have you ever heard the saying,  'opposites attract'?" He says, gesturing him with quotes. Hunter shrugs his shoulder off him.   
  
"Yeah, man. You can't say it's never gonna happen." Dustin blurts out. "Ever since Blake left for Factor Blue, you and Tori have been getting close."  
  
"Yeah. Should I mention REAL close?" Shane adds with a wink.  
  
"So?! That doesn't mean anything." Hunter argues back. 

"Dude, don't get me wrong here, but your brother likes Tori." Dustin exclaims. "Isn't that bad?" He asks, looking at Shane.   
  
He playfully slaps him on the shoulder. "So? He can like her too!"  
  
"You can't exactly like the same person your own brother likes."  
  
"And why not?" Shane questions him with his arms crossed on his chest.  
  
"Because, dude! That's just wrong."  
  
"People can't help the way they feel."  
  
"That's possible. You can control those feelings when you know it's the right thing to do." Dustin shots back.  
  
"Guys, it's not like I'm falling for her!" Hunter yells at the two. Shane and Dustin continued to argue as if they never heard him.  
  
"Hello Shane! Blake and Hunter...two brothers...one girl...umm yeah! Total drama!" Dustin splutters out.  
  
Shane rolls his eyes. "It's only wrong if Blake and Tori were together. But you see, they are not. So HA! And besides, I bet Blake and Tori forgot about each other. It's been nearly a year since they last spoken!"  
  
"Dude, you don't know Blake as well as I do. Trust me, he's still crazy about her." Dustin adds.  
  
"Well, I'm pretty sure Tori has moved on by now." Shane says reassuringly, winking at Hunter.  
  
Hunter sighs as he walks away from the two. Why did I even bother to tell them? He thought, as he was looking down, not aware of where he was going till he bumped into his boss Kelly. "Whoa, there!" She grunts. "Watch where you going."  
  
"Oh. Sorry, Kel." Hunter apologizes as he went back to work in unloading the boxes full of sports gear.  
  
Kelly lifts her eyebrows. "You alright?" She knelt down next to the dirty blonde to help.  
  
"Yeah. Why?" He asks, lifting his eyebrows at her.   
  
"Nothing. You don't seem yourself today that's all." Kelly observes.   
  
"Oh. Well I'm fine." Hunter answers back, feeling a bit irritated.  
  
"Okay then. If you need to talk about your girl problems you know where to find me." She says, getting up.  
  
"Whoa, whoa…w-wait. How do you know I have girl problems?" Hunter asks in curiosity. "Or...uhh why would you assume such a thing?"  
  
Kelly smirks. "I know these things. I sense them." She whispers.  
  
"So you know everything?"  
  
"Oh...so you do have girl problems!" She exclaims.  
  
Hunter groans. "Ugh. Forget it!"  
  
Kelly chuckles and pulls him towards her from walking away. "I'm sorry. I'll be serious now. "So what is up?"  
  
Hunter scratches his head and sighs. "Okay fine. I've been having a hard time sleeping."

"Uh huh…" His boss nods. "If you're asking for less hours at work, I don't think so."

"No. No." He nods his head in dismay. "Let me finish."

"Okay. I'm sorry." She apologizes real quickly. "And you were saying?" 

"I've been having a hard time sleeping…" 

"Uh huh…" Kelly nods, waiting for him to finish.

"And it's because the same person always appear in my dream."

"Oh?" She raised a brow and smirks. "Do tell."

And he began doing so. 


	3. Relentless Dreams

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Hunter gets more crazy dreams about Tori. Dustin thinks there's something behind all of it. Is there?  
  
**"Relentless Dreams"**  
_  
"Tori! Wait up! Where are you going?!" Hunter begins running after her.  
  
"Just go away!" She cries.  
  
"Is that what Sensei taught you? To walk away from your problems?" He asks, still following her.  
  
Tori stops and turns around. She gives him the evil eye. "Well I guess so!" She yells at him and keeps walking.  
  
Hunter sighs and went after her. "Are you mad because I broke off the kiss?"  
  
"I told you to go away!" Tori snap.  
  
"Can you please stop and hear me out for a minute?" He pleads.  
  
"I'm not listening!" She covers her ears.  
  
"Listen!" Hunter grabs her wrist and pulls the blonde towards him. Tori tries to loosen his grip, but he was too strong.  
  
"Let me go!" She whines.  
  
"Not until you tell me what is wrong." He groans.  
  
Tori sigh as water drips down on her face. "You're the problem, Hunter." She pushes him away.  
  
He arched his eyebrows. "Me?"  
  
"Yes you!"  
  
"What did I do?"  
  
"All I wanted was to show you my thanks for returning the bracelet, but you don't even want to do anything with me!" She exclaims.  
  
"Tori, that's not true." Hunter retorts as he took her by the hand. "It's just--I don't know." He sighs. "All this is happening too soon. Don't you think it's a bit weird?"  
  
"It was the kiss, wasn't it?" Tori gasp as she put her hands on her lips. "Oh my God. You think I'm a bad kisser!"  
  
"What?!" Hunter chuckles. "No way! Don't be ridiculous! The kiss was great! Believe me...you're a great kisser."  
  
"Then what is it?!" She cries. He stares at her for a moment, and suddenly burst out laughing. He could no longer hold it in; for Hunter thought what they were arguing about was completely ridiculous. Tori squints her eyes as she place her hands on her hips. "What is so funny?"  
  
"Nothing. But boy you sure look cute when you're mad." He winks.  
  
Tori evilly glares at him and then cracked a little smile. "Ugh! You're such a jerk."  
  
"Well, would this make you feel better?" Hunter asks as he gently places his hands on her face and planted a passionate kiss on her.  
_  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"OH MY GOD!" Hunter gets up from bed and rubs his eyes. He looks at the clock and it was only 2:00 AM. "That was so wrong!" He told himself. Hunter gets up from bed and heads to the kitchen, wearing only his crimson boxers. He took milk out from the refrigerator, and drank from the carton. The light switch went on as Hunter quickly turns around.  
  
"Oh God!" Dustin looks away immediately. "Put some clothes on, dude!"  
  
Hunter rolls his eyes. "What are you doing up?" He says, wiping his mouth, and putting the milk back in the fridge.  
  
"I got distracted from the yelling." He answers with a yawn. Dustin pulled out a chair from the dining table and sat down. "Dude, you're having one of those dreams again huh?"  
  
"Ya think?!" Hunter sighs as he sits across from him. "Dude, I can't believe I did that."  
  
"Did what?"  
  
"I kissed Tori this time. And it wasn't just a kiss." He adds. "It was more of those passionate kisses! But I don't know! I couldn't help myself! It's like...I had to kiss her."  
  
"Now that's freaky!" Dustin exclaims. "Maybe it means something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The dreams you've been getting. Maybe it's a sign." Dustin explains as he took an apple from the fruit bowl, situated in the middle of the table.  
  
Hunter bit his lip. "A sign of what?"  
  
"Gee, I don't know." He shrugs, taking a bite off the apple. "That you and Tori are meant to be together. Who knows?"  
  
Hunter lets out a small laugh. "Dude, that's crazy!"  
  
"Well, what else could it be? There must be an explanation to all this. Unless you've been thinking about her 24/7."  
  
"What?! Where'd you get that stupid idea?"  
  
Dustin smiles. "I don't know, but Cam told me that if you think about someone or something you want to happen long enough, they'll somehow appear in your dreams. But I don't know. It's all in the head I guess. But one time I had this dream about Shane being attack by an army of spiders! It was sicko, bro!"  
  
Hunter looks down. "Did he mention anything about getting rid of them?"  
  
"No."  
  
He sighs. "I should talk to Tori. I haven't for days."  
  
"Dude, don't even bother. She's busy Christmas shopping during this time of year and she gets a little crabby when she's bothered."  
  
"Oh crap! That reminds me, I still need to buy presents! What's today?" Hunter asks.  
  
"You still got time. It's the 23rd. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve." Dustin responds excitedly. "Dude, it's gonna be so cool!"  
  
"Yeah, man. Look, I should get some sleep." Hunter yawns, getting up. "Like that's ever gonna happen.

Dustin nods. "Hang in there, dude." 

"Thanks. "Night, bro." 

And they head back to their rooms. 


	4. Christmas Shopping

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Kelly gets an unexpected call. Meanwhile, Hunter finds it hard to shop for girls, or maybe just a girl in particular.  
  
**"Christmas Shopping"**  
  
"Storm Chargers, this is Kelly, may I help you?" Kelly held the phone to her ear as she stacked the boxes on the counter.  
  
"Yo Kelly! It's me," Said a voice from the other line.  
  
"Blake?"  
  
"Wow. You still remember how I sounded and first guess too." He chuckles. "Impressive."  
  
"Oh my God. What a surprise!" Kelly smiles as she held the phone to her ear. "You've waited for a year to call? Geez, how have you been lately?!"  
  
"Just awesome! And you? How's the shop coming along?"  
  
"It's been going very well, although it's not the same without you." She replies. "And Factor Blue?"  
  
"Awesome, Kel! You should come over here and check it out sometime." Blake answers enthusiastically.  
  
"All right. I will. Look I got to go. I'm quite busy."  
  
"Oh sorry."  
  
"Naw, it's all right. Call back later?"  
  
"Sure thing. Tell the others I said hi."  
  
"No problem. It's nice hearing from you. Bye." Kelly hangs up the phone.  
  
"Who was that?" Tori comes in, carrying loads of shopping bags.  
  
"Dang girl! Shop enough?" Kelly chuckles as she lend her a helping hand.  
  
"Thanks." The blonde smiles.  
  
"Oh, and that was Blake by the way." She answers, placing some of the shopping bags on the counter.  
  
Tori stops and dropped a jaw. "Are you serious?"  
  
Kelly smirks. "Don't get too excited now. Yes, I'm serious. He called to say hi."  
  
Tori shrugs it off. "That's cool."  
  
Kelly stares at her weirdly. "Okay? Aren't you like crazy about him?"  
  
"Does this look good for Dustin?" Tori holds up a yellow shirt with a matching jacket. "Yes? No?"  
  
"Yeah. Great. It looks fine."  
  
"Oh darn! I forgot about Hunter's present!" Tori gasp as she smacked herself on the head. "I don't even know what to get him!" She panicked.  
  
"Oh yeah...about Hunter--"  
  
"Kelly, I'll be right back! Can you watch my stuff for me please? And make sure no one looks through it! Okay?"  
  
She smiles. "Alright. But hurry back!"  
  
"I will. Thanks again, Kelly." Tori waves off and leaves the shop.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Girls are so hard to shop for." Hunter groans, looking through racks of clothes at PacSun.  
  
"Only if it's a girl you have feelings for." Shane winks.  
  
"For the last time, I do not have feelings for Tori." Hunter grunted in annoyance. "I just don't know what she would like that's all."  
  
"Sure, sure." Shane chuckles.  
  
"Hey, this charm bracelet looks cool." Dustin says, walking towards the other guys. "Check it out. Maybe you can give this to Tori."  
  
Hunter's eyes popped open. "Dude! T-That was the exact same bracelet in my dream!" He exclaims.  
  
"You serious?" Dustin lifts his eyebrows.  
  
"Talk about freaky." Shane adds.  
  
"This is perfect!" Hunter smiles. "She'll love it!"  
  
"Dude, if she loves your present more than mine, I should get some of the credit. After all, I was the one that found it." Dustin nods proudly.  
  
Shane rolls his eyes. "Riiight."


	5. Smack Down

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Tori gets a little jumpy as Hunter gets the cold shoulder.  
  
**"Smack down"**  
  
Later that day, Hunter went to Ninja ops to have a talk with Sensei. At the moment, Tori, Shane, and Dustin were teaching class at Wind Academy.  
  
"So what do you think, Sensei?"  
  
Sensei nods his head as he walks towards Hunter and place a hand on his shoulder. "Son, dreams can sometimes mean something, but I'm afraid you'll have to figure this one out on your own. You can only help yourself with this situation. This is your heart, not mine."  
  
"Sensei, Why is it that people think I have feelings for Tori." He groans. "I mean...I know I shouldn't care about what people think, but is it that obvious? Or is it the fact I have dreams about her?"  
  
Sensei grins. "Well do you?"  
  
Hunter just shrugs. "I denied it all. But I don't know."  
  
"You can't know whether you like someone or not. It's either a yes or no." Sensei replies.  
  
He sighs. "Okay. Maybe I do. But don't tell anyone!"  
  
Sensei laughs. "What's wrong with that?"  
  
Hunter looks down and frowns. "Well as you may know by now, Blake likes her too."  
  
"Blake? Ahh...how is he?"  
  
"Fine I guess. I haven't heard from him in awhile now." Hunter responds as he began to hear footsteps from behind him. He looks up and glimpse at the shadow cast on the wall. Hunter quickly turns around and then smiles.  
  
"I thought I recognized that voice." Cam comes in, carrying Christmas lights all tangled up.  
  
"Cam, my man!" Hunter smirks as they shook hands. "How's it going?"  
  
"You can say tiring." He chuckles. "I've been Christmas shopping and decorating for the past week. Want to help me out here?"  
  
"Sure thing."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Okay. That's enough for the day." Tori says. "I'll see you all tomorrow." She bows to her students, as they all bow back. Two students one with pink hair, sneakily hid behind the other students. Tori quickly catches them. "Hey! I don't think so you two." The blonde points at them with a smirk. She signals them to come over. "I'm not through with both of you yet."  
  
"Aw man!" Kapri whines as she and Marah walks up to Tori.  
  
"We're screwed." Marah mumbles.  
  
Tori clears out her throat. Kapri and Marah both looked down. "So why were you two half an hour late?" She asks with one of her eyebrows raised.  
  
"Well you see me and Dustin--"  
  
"Dustin?!" Tori snaps without letting Marah finished. She sighs as Marah bit her lip. "Okay. You two can leave."  
  
"Really?!" Kapri asks in surprise. "So we're not in trouble?"  
  
"Not yet." Tori replies abruptly.  
  
"Well it's not my fault!" Kapri exclaims. "I was waiting for Marah right, but she happens to be with Dustin and when I realized we were gonna be late she--"  
  
"UGH!" Marah evilly glares at the pink head. "You traitor!" She hisses.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Guys. Don't worry about it." Tori chuckles. "It's the Holiday season after all. I guess I shouldn't be hard on you guys during his time of year."  
  
Marah and Kapri both smiled sweetly at their mentor. "Thank you so much!"  
  
Tori nods. "You two may go now."  
  
They bowed.  
  
At a distance, they spotted Dustin. Marah gasps at the sight of him and began running towards him. Kapri rolls her eyes. "Great." She follows. Tori looks on with a smile.  
  
"Hey, Marah. You ready to go?" Dustin asks with a huge grin.  
  
Marah blushes. "Ready when you are."  
  
"Oh brother, I think I'm gonna puke." Kapri looks at them in disgust.  
  
Dustin looks over at Tori. "Hey you! Wanna go ice skating with us?" He asks excitedly.  
  
Tori laughs as she takes off her robe. "Since when did you start ice skating?"  
  
"Now I guess." Dustin smiles, looking down at Marah.  
  
"You guys go ahead. I'll pass."  
  
"Oh come on, Tor! Don't leave me with them. It'll be fun!" Kapri insisted. "I promise."  
  
"No thanks. I've suffered enough with those two. Have fun!" Tori adds jokingly with a smile. "Bye bye now."  
  
Kapri groans. "Alright then. Later."  
  
Tori sighs as she stares directly at their paths. Moments later, their images disappeared beyond the far mists. The blonde was now alone. She smiles and heads off to the woods. "Great..." Tori began talking to herself. "What should I do with all this precious time I have left?" She asks herself. "I've done all my Christmas shopping. It's way too cold to even go surfing." Tori shivers and then pauses. Suddenly, there were sounds of branches breaking and leaves swifting. Tori quickly turns around, startled. "Who's there?!" She positioned herself in a fighting stance as she walks around in place. The wind began to pick up as it blew her blonde hair. She sighs and chuckles. "It's just the wind, Tori. Lothor is long gone. Earth is now safe." Tori tells herself. "Nothing to worry about."  
  
"Hey there." A voice came from behind as Tori felt a hand on her shoulder. She quickly grabbed the hand and threw the body over her. "Ahhh!" The voice cries.  
  
"Hiya!" Tori yells as she smacks the body down. She goes on top of it with her hands on the collar, and her fist up in the air.  
  
"Whoa whoa whoa! Wait! Tori, it's me! Hunter!" He held his arms up.  
  
Tori squints her eyes. "Hunter?"  
  
"YES! Hunter!" He shouts out, taking off his hood.  
  
She bit her lip. "Opps." Tori helped him up. "Sorry."  
  
Hunter evilly glares at her as he dusts himself off. He places a hand on his sore shoulder that he landed on. "Ahhh...this kills." He groans as Tori checks it out.  
  
"Why did you have to sneak up behind me like that?!" She asks angrily, shoving him to the side. "You totally freaked me out."  
  
"Well sorry. You didn't have to attack me like that." Hunter adds with a sigh. Tori looks away. "What are you doing out here anyway? It's almost dark."  
  
She shrugs. "Just walking around. I got nothing else better to do."  
  
Hunter nods. "Okay I thought so. Let's go then." He grabs Tori's hand and drags her along.  
  
"Wait! Where are we going?" She asks.  
  
"It's a surprise. Come on." Hunter replies.  
  
"If it's ice skating--"  
  
"Don't worry." He cuts her off. "It's not ice skating. I know how bad your coordination and balance is." Tori's mouth dropped open. Hunter laughs. "I'm just kidding."  
  
"Can I at least go back to ninja ops and get my sweatshirt. It's getting cold out."  
  
Hunter stops and stares at the beauty. He takes off his black jacket with crimson stripes on the side, and puts it around Tori. She looks up at him and smiles. "There! Crimson is so your color. Now let's go!"  
  
"Wait."  
  
Hunter sighs. "What now?"  
  
"I can't take your jacket. You're freezing." Tori exclaims.  
  
"I'm fine. You're the one that's freezing." He chuckles. "Come on. Let's go."


	6. Crimson Board

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Tori gets an early Christmas present.  
  
**"Crimson Board"**  
  
Back at Ninja ops, Shane walks in after class. Meanwhile, Cam was on a ladder, putting up more Christmas decorations.  
  
"Whoa!" Shane looks around the room, surprised. "This place is looking awesome!"  
  
"Hey! Whatever you do, don't touch anything." Cam tells him, coming back down the ladder.  
  
Shane's eyes were suddenly filled with Joy as soon as he turned himself around, facing loads of Christmas presents under the tree. "Alright! Presents!" Before he could even reach them, Cam immediately steps in front of him. Shane sighs. "What?"  
  
"Step away from the tree, or you'll have to get pass me." He warns him.  
  
Shane pouts his lips and then grins. "So what did you get me?"  
  
Cam laughs. "Who said I got you something?" Shane frowns. "I'm kidding."  
  
"Well?! What is it?" He asks impatiently.  
  
"Are you serious? It's not even Christmas yet. Wait till then." Cam replies with a sigh, putting more presents under the tree. Shane just stood there, watching him. "So what are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be out with the others?" Cam suddenly asks.  
  
Shane shrugs. "Hey did umm...Hunter stop by here awhile ago?"  
  
"Oh yeah. You missed him. He left moments ago." He answers.  
  
"To where?" Shane asks.  
  
Cam nods his head in dismay. "No Idea."  
  
"What about Tori?"  
  
"She should be around. Her stuff is still here."  
  
"Hmmm..." He thought. Shane looks down and smiles at the tray, full of cookies on the table. "Sweet!" He reached for one, but Cam slaps his hand before he even touched a single cookie. "Ow!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Storm Chargers?" Tori questions Hunter as soon as he parked her van in front of the store. He turns off the engine and tosses the keys to Tori. She smiles weakly at him. "So why are we here?" She asks, taking off her seatbelt.  
  
Hunter smiles as he gets out of the van. "Trust me." He replies. Tori jumps off and shuts the door. She and Hunter walk side-by-side, entering Storm Chargers.  
  
"You're kidding?!" Kelly shrieks on the phone as Hunter and Tori comes in. She turns around and gasps at the sight of them. "Umm got to go! More customers coming in! Bye!" Kelly immediately hangs up the phone.  
  
"Who was that?" Tori wonders in curiosity.  
  
"No one." Kelly smirks. She looks over at Hunter and smiles. "So what are you two doing here?" Hunter mouthed something to Kelly. Kelly nods. "Oh yes."  
  
Tori stares at them weirdly. "What are you guys up to?" She asks with her hands on her hips.  
  
"What? Nothing." Kelly smiles. "It's just that...there's something at the back waiting for you."  
  
"Huh?" Tori wrinkles her forehead.  
  
"It's part of the surprise. Come on!" Hunter grabs her by the hand. Kelly quickly stops him.  
  
"Wait. There's something you need to know." She whispers in his ear.  
  
Hunter grunted. "Can it wait? I really want to give Tori her present."  
  
"But--"  
  
"Come on, Tor!" Hunter leads the way. Kelly sighs.  
  
Hunter opens the back door, where there stood a white sheet with a red bow around it. Tori looks at it in curiosity, and then glances over at Hunter. "If this is one of your tricks--"  
  
"Tori, don't worry." He chuckles. "I promise you it's not Shane nor Dustin under those sheets with a water gun."  
  
"Good. It better not be, or else I'll give you a repeat of what happened at the woods today." She stated evilly.  
  
"Well open it."  
  
Tori smiles excitedly. "Okay. Here it goes." She unties the red ribbon, and removes the white sheets. Under it stood a brand new surfboard. Tori puts a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God. A surfboard!" She exclaims happily. "Hunter, you didn't have to--"  
  
"You like it?" He asks, cutting her off.  
  
"Like it?! I love it!" Hunter smiles while Tori examine it real closely. "Ít's soo umm...." She trails off.  
  
"It's so...what?" He raised an eyebrow, afraid that she wasn't going to like it.  
  
"Well...it's so crimson." Tori points out the color on the side of the board. She smiles. "Interesting. Just wait till I give you your present."  
  
"You know that's only half of your present, right?" Hunter adds with a smirk.  
  
"What?!" She splutters out. "There's more?!"  
  
"Uh huh." He nods.  
  
"Isn't this enough already? You didn't have to do all this."  
  
"Well, I wanted to." Hunter winks.  
  
Tori bit her lip and smiles. "That's very sweet of you." She slowly leans forward to give him an innocent kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." Hunter looks away to keep himself from blushing. "So. You want to go out to get coffee or something?" She asks to break off the silence. "My treat."  
  
Hunter looks up. "Yeah. Sure." He pauses. "No wait. I can't." He groans.  
  
Tori frowns. "Why not?"  
  
"I have to go and look after Charlie tonight."  
  
"Charlie?" She questions him.  
  
"Yah? Don't you remember? His mom brings him to me like right after school to hang."  
  
"Oh yes. The one that lost his father?"  
  
Hunter nods.  
  
"I guess some other time then." Tori suggested.  
  
"Wait. Why won't you come with me?" He asks.  
  
"Really? Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah. It'll be fun. We can get coffee along the way."  
  
"Do you think Charlie would want me around?" She asks worriedly.  
  
"You do martial arts and stuff. He will." Hunter says reassuringly.  
  
Tori nods. "Alright. Sounds cool."  
  
And they went off.


	7. Babysitting

**QUICK SUMMARY:** The title says it all.  
  
**"Babysitting"**  
  
Later that night...  
  
"That was just totally awesome!" Dustin suddenly walks in Ninja ops, along with Marah and Kapri. His entrance startled Shane and Cam. "Ice skating is the best!" He shouted.  
  
Shane and Cam exchanged looks. "Ice skating? You got to be joking."  
  
"I'm not, dude."  
  
"You can't even stay on a skateboard without slipping." Shane blurts out as he sneakily grabs a cookie from the table.  
  
"You should've seen him. He did a single loop in the air!" Marah exclaims proudly.  
  
"Yeah...and fell on his butt." Kapri adds.  
  
"Hey! It was a single toe loop. Very hard to land for starters."  
  
"A what?" Shane and Cam asks in unison.  
  
She rolls her eyes. "Never mind."  
  
"Speaking of awesome..." Dustin began to examine the room. "I feel like I'm in Vegas, baby! WHOO! Check out these lights!"  
  
Cam stares at the goofball weirdly. "You're beginning to scare me, Dustin."  
  
"What? I'm just getting into the holiday spirit, okay." He replies, looking at Shane. "Hey. I want a cookie." Cam quickly turns around, and spotted Shane with a cookie sticking out from his mouth. He gives him the evil eye.  
  
"Sorry." Shane plasters an innocent smile on his face.  
  
"Whatever." Cam looks away from him and back at Dustin. He too grabbed a cookie as Cam lets him have it. "Have you guys seen Tori?" He asks, fixing up his glasses.  
  
"Yea! We saw her walking with Hunter at some neighborhood." Kapri answers.  
  
"Oh my Gosh!" Marah squeals. "Didn't they look so cute together?!"  
  
The pink head nods in agreement. "Yeah. It looked like they were actually a couple."  
  
Shane and Dustin looked at each other, and both smiled.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Alright. This is it." Hunter says as he and Tori arrived at Charlie's house. As soon as they reached the porch, Hunter presses on the doorbell. They both waited. Meanwhile, Hunter began humming to the Christmas song "Deck the Halls." Tori stares at him from the corner of her eye and smiles. Suddenly, the front door opens. A middle-aged woman answers.  
  
"Oh hey!" The woman greets them warmly. "Come inside. It's cold out." Hunter lets Tori in first as she walks inside shyly. As soon as she shuts the door behind her, the woman looks at Tori with mere interest and curiosity.  
  
"Oh yeah. I'm sorry. This is Tori. Tori this is Charlie's mother." Hunter introduces the women as they both shook hands. "I thought it would be fun to bring her along and have her meet Charlie. If you don't mind of course."  
  
"Nice to meet you." Tori smiles.  
  
"It's a pleasure to have both of you here." She nods. "So um...are you two together?" The woman grins.  
  
Tori and Hunter looked at each other and laughed. "Oh no. No. No. " He says, shaking his head in dismay. "We're just friends."  
  
"Uh huh." The woman eyed the two in suspicion. "You two could pass as a couple."  
  
There was awkward silence. Tori and Hunter looked away in embarrassment. The woman chuckles. "I'm kidding. Well if you two would excuse me, I need to run a few errands and finish my Christmas shopping. I don't want Charlie to see what I'm going to get him this year."  
  
"I'm sure he'll be blown away." Hunter adds.  
  
"All right. Thanks again you two and if you need anything--"  
  
"Just call you up on your cell and page you if no one answers. Yes. Got it." He finishes the sentence as he opens the door for her. "Oh yes, and help yourselves to whatever is in the kitchen." Hunter adds.  
  
"Take care and drive safely." Tori waves off.  
  
"Thank you, Sweetie. Have fun!" The woman gets in her car and drives off.  
  
"Alright." Hunter shuts the door. "Let's find Charlie."  
  
"HUNTER!" Yells a voice from upstairs.  
  
"Or not." He smiles as he and Tori walks in the living room.  
  
"Hey there, Charlie." Hunter lifts him up from the stair steps and gave him a huge hug. Tori stood against the wall with awed. "How are you little dude?" He asks, placing Charlie down.  
  
"Great! My grandma bought me this new fighting game. Wanna see?!" Charlie asks excitedly. He glances past Hunter and squints at the stranger behind him. "Who's that?" He whispers.  
  
Hunter turns around and smiles. He pulls her in closer. "This is Tori. She does martial arts too."  
  
"No way!" Charlie laughs. "Girls can't fight."  
  
"Oh?" Tori smirks. "What boys can do...girls can too."  
  
Charlie looks at Tori and then at Hunter. "Is she your girlfriend?"  
  
Tori bit her lip and looks away in amazement. Hunter laughs. "No. We're just friends. I brought her here to play with us."  
  
Charlie grins. "You like her huh?" He mumbled under his breath. Hunter smiles it off. "Ooooo! Hunter and Tori, sitting in the tree...K-I-S-S-I-N- G..."  
  
"Alright! That's enough." Hunter picks Charlie up. "Let's play video games now." Tori follows with a chuckle.


	8. Smiles In Denial

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Someone else appears in Hunter's dream.  
  
**"Smiles In Denial"**  
  
_"Tori, slow down." Hunter gasps for air as he and Tori continued to make out in the beach. He had his hands around her fit waist and her arms around his neck. The two were making out crazy, till they collapsed on the sand. Tori was now on top of him. They were rolling over each other continuously. "Whoa whoa!" Hunter stops the kiss.  
  
"What's wrong?" She asks breathlessly.  
  
"There's something on my back." He gets up to see what it is.  
  
She too, gets up and placed her chin on his shoulder. "What is it?"  
  
Hunter picks it up. "It's a mistletoe." He answers, holding it up. Tori smiles. "What is it doing here in the beach?"  
  
"You know what that means." Tori giggles as she grabs Hunter and kissed him. They began making out again till someone tapped Hunter on his shoulder. "Huh?" He turns around. His eyes suddenly pops open at the sight of... "Blake?" He whispers in shocked.  
  
Tori looks up in surprise. "Huh?"  
  
Blake eyes the two in disgust. He then glares at Hunter. "I can't believe you brother."  
  
Hunter immediately went on his feet. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"To spoil your fun I'm afraid." Blake snaps angrily, as he helps Tori up. "Come home with me, Tor." He smiles facing her. She looks down and pursed her lips.  
  
"No way." Hunter pushes Blake and stood in front of her.  
  
His brother laughs. "So...is this how you treat your little brother huh? Well deal with it! Come on, Tori!"  
  
"Tori!" Hunter cries. "Please don't tell me what we have was just a fling!"  
  
She turns around and smiles. "I'm sorry. It's been fun flirting with you, but I must go." Tori giggles as she and Blake lock lips in front of him.  
  
"NOO!"  
_  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Dude, wake up." Dustin shakes Hunter's shoulders. "Come on, bro. Wake up."  
  
"Tori...no." Hunter whimpers in his sleep. "Don't do this to me. Blake!"  
  
Dustin stares at the sleeping Hunter quizzically. "What? Tori? Blake? Dude, wake up! You're only dreaming!"  
  
"I'm gonna get you for this!" Hunter moans. Dustin began to restrain him.  
  
"Dude, wake up!"  
  
"NOO!" Hunter immediately wakes up and banged his head against Dustin's.  
  
"Ahhhh! Okay that hurts." He grunts in pain.  
  
"Great. Not again!" Hunter sits up on his bed rubbing his temples.  
  
"Uh yeah...Merry Christmas Eve to you too." Dustin gets up with his hand on his head.  
  
"Oh. Sorry dude. Right back at yah." Hunter greeted as he puts on a shirt.  
  
"Another dream huh?" Dustin smirks, sitting next to him. "So how did it go last night eh?"  
  
Hunter smiles.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Well...what happened?!" Kelly nudges the smiling Tori. "Come on, girl. Details!"  
  
"What?" She chuckles. "Nothing happened."  
  
Kelly gasps. "Oh come on! You've been smiling all morning. What's up?"  
  
Tori smiles. "Okay. I had a blast! You should've seen Hunter." She pulls herself up on the customer service counter. "He's so great with kids." Kelly listens with great interest as Tori fiddles with her hair. "We played video games, ate junk food, and had this huge pillow fight. Man, it was awesome. I felt like a kid again." Kelly grins at Tori. "What?!"  
  
"You are so into him, sweetheart. It's so obvious."  
  
Tori gave her a sickening look. "Get real."  
  
Kelly rolls her eyes. "You're in denial. Just admit the truth. You have feelings for Hunter."  
  
Shane suddenly enters Storm Chargers. Tori and Kelly watched him walk in. "Happy Christmas Eve, ladies." He smiles at them.  
  
"Merry Christmas Eve to you too." Kelly nods.  
  
Shane gives Tori a little nudge. "So did you have fun last night?"  
  
Tori groans in annoyance. "Ugh! Are you serious? I don't believe this." She walks away.  
  
"What?" Shane was puzzled. "I was just wondering. Kelly just laughs at him.  
  
"Wait, Tor! You got mail." Shane runs up to her.  
  
She turns around and sighs. "That's odd. Where did you get this?"  
  
"It just came in today." He hands it to her.  
  
"Hmmm." Tori raised an eyebrow. "I wonder who it's from."  
  
"Well open it."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"See! I told you." Dustin pats Hunter on the shoulder. "Total drama. Not good."  
  
"What are you talking about?" He shoves Dustin's arm off him. "It's just a dream!" Hunter gets up from bed.  
  
"Well then, explain the whole charm bracelet thing because I'm so confused." He scratches his head. "It appeared in your dream right? And then I found it." Dustin adds. "Those things just don't happen, dude."  
  
Hunter sighs. "Coincidence. Big deal."  
  
"Dude, I'm telling yah." Dustin blurts out. "These dreams that you're having are telling you something!"  
  
"Well what are they trying to tell me then?"  
  
Dustin puts an arm around Hunter. "Dude, it's telling you that you are crazy about Tori and that you must tell her how you feel."  
  
Hunter rolls his eyes. "You're kidding, right?" He chuckles. "I have feelings for Tori? Pshh.Yeah right!"  
  
Dustin sighs. "You're in denial again, bro."  
  
He nods his head in dismay. "Dude, whatever." Hunter avoids the topic. "Get dressed. We have to get to work."  
  
"Ha!" Dustin claps his hand. "I knew it! You are so into her!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Oh come on. It's all in your face! Don't think you can get away with it." Dustin grins as he nudges him on the shoulder. "Eh eh?" Hunter looks away and smiles. "HA! See see! Look at that. Smile all you want, dude...just wait till I tell Tori."  
  
"No way. You wouldn't."  
  
"Watch me!" Dustin threw a pillow at Hunter's face and went out the door laughing.  
  
"Dude, you are so gonna get it." Hunter evilly glares at his direction as he went after him


	9. One's Greeting

**QUICK SUMMARY: A little bit of something from an unexpected one. **

**"One's Greeting"**  
  
_Dear Tori,  
Here's a Christmas greeting from the heart. I wish you and the others a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I miss you. _

_Always, _

_Blake._  
  
Tori folds the card and slips it back in the envelope. She then cracked a little smile. "AWWW!" Kelly grins. "How sweet of him!"  
  
"Why didn't I get a card from Blake?" Shane pouts as he took the envelope from Tori to read it over again.  
  
"Because you're not exactly special." Kelly stated jokingly. Shane mocks her.  
  
"Pshh." He glares. "Look who's talking? You didn't get anything either."  
  
"I wouldn't say that." She smirks.  
  
"Wow." Tori pursed her lips. "This is like the first time I've heard from him since the day he left for Factor Blue. And he decides to wait for a year to write?" She adds bitterly.  
  
"What's with the face?" Kelly chuckles.  
  
"Yeah. At least you got a card from him." Shane says with a frown.  
  
"I know, it's just that--" Tori pauses and then sighs. "Blake seems to be dedicated and very busy with Factor Blue that he doesn't even have the time to write or call me once in awhile."  
  
Kelly pressed her lips together. "You miss him don't you?"  
  
Tori shrugs. "I guess so. Don't we all?" She smiles.  
  
The phone went on. Kelly rushed to get it. "Hold on you guys."  
  
"Alright."  
  
"So..." Shane leans on the counter next to Tori. "You umm...still have feelings for Blake?" He asks.  
  
Tori glances over at him in annoyance. "Do you?"  
  
"Yeah right." Shane chuckles. "I'm not..."  
  
Tori suddenly giggles.  
  
"Hey! I don't swing that way, Tor." They both laugh.  
  
"What?! Now?!" Kelly yells on the phone as she glances over at her watch. Shane and Tori looks on. "Where are you? At the airport?!"  
  
"Who do you think she's talking to on the phone?" The blonde whispers to Shane.  
  
He shrugs. "Who knows?"  
  
"But I can't leave the shop." Kelly turns around. She looks at Shane and Tori. "Okay never mind. I have an idea. I'll get there as soon as I can. Bye. And you so owe me for this." She hangs up the phone.  
  
"Kel--"  
  
"Tori, Shane. Can you two do me a big big favor?" Kelly asks, putting on her jacket.  
  
"Who was that on the phone?" Tori questions.  
  
Kelly groans. "Never mind that. Can you two manage the shop for me? Only till I come back." She pleaded.  
  
"What?!" Shane exaggerates.  
  
"It'll just take an hour or two." Kelly exclaims.  
  
"No way--" Tori slaps him on the shoulder. "Ow." He groans.  
  
"You work here, dork!" Tori snaps at Shane. He frowns. "Yes. We'll be happy too." She smiles at Kelly.  
  
"Thanks you guys!" She exits Storm Chargers.  
  
"Great." Shane mumbles. "Today was suppose to be my day off."  
  
"Shane, give Kelly some credit. She's been running the shop like everyday and doesn't really have time for herself." Tori adds. "At least do this one favor for her."  
  
Kelly goes off and accidentally bumps into Hunter and Dustin along the way to her car. "Opps." She apologizes. "Hey guys. Sorry got to run!" She says in a rush.  
  
Hunter and Dustin exchange looks. "Uhh...Merry Christmas Eve, Kelly!" They waved off in unison. The two walks over to Shane and Tori.  
  
"What was that all about?" Hunter asks leaning against the counter.  
  
Tori just shrugs at him.  
  
"And where is she going?" Dustin wonders.  
  
"I don't know." Shane scratches his head. "Anyways, aren't you two supposed to work today?" Hunter and Dustin both nodded.

"Yeah. That's why we're here." The dirty blonde replies. 

 "Great! Later you guys!"  
  
"What? Hey!" Tori yells at him. They watched on as Shane exits Storm Chargers. "What a goon." Tori stated with a smirk.  
  
"Hey, Tori. Check this out. Me and Hunter got cards from Blake." Dustin says happily.  
  
"Really? Me too!" She squeals. "Except...Shane didn't get one." Tori shook her head. "Anyway, are you sure you two can manage the shop alone?" She asks with her pleading puppy dog look.  
  
"What? You're not bailing on us now are you?" Hunter raises an eyebrow.  
  
"Ah man...it's the look!" Dustin whines, covering his eyes. "Not the look! I hate it when you do that."  
  
"Well it must be working." Tori says, grinning. The guys both sighed. "Yay! You guys are the greatest! Laters." She too left Storm Chargers. "See you at Ninja ops!"  
  
Hunter and Dustin exchange looks. "Great." They murmured.  
  
"Another goon." The goofball adds.


	10. The Arrival

**QUICK SUMMARY**: One arrives in Blue Bay Harbor on Christmas Eve.  
  
**"The Arrival"**   
  
Hours later...  
  
"Alright!" Tori enters Ninja ops, carrying loads of grocery bags. "Let's get the party started shall we?" Shane and Cam both turned around. She beams at the sight of Shane. "YOU. I should've known you were gonna be here."  
  
Shane gives her an innocent smile. His eyes were now focused on the stuff she was carrying. "Right on! Food!" He got up and tried to stick his hand in one of the grocery bags, but Tori slaps it. He frowns at the blonde as she laid the bags down.  
  
"Yeah right!" She chuckles.  
  
"Wow. Look at all this food." Cam says with a smile. "This is great!"  
  
"Yup! Now all we have to do is cook it." Tori exclaims.  
  
"Cook?" Shane questions. "Did you just say cook?"  
  
She smiles. "Yes, cook. What do you expect? Eat raw food on Christmas Eve?" Tori sniggers.  
  
Shane scratches his head. "But umm...we don't have a stove or any kitchen tools here to cook all this stuff."  
  
The blonde rolls her eyes. "Of course not. That's why we're going to my house."  
  
"Then why did you bring all this food here?" He asks.  
  
She smirks. "Oh Shane, don't think you'll get away with it this time. I'm just dropping off candy, cookies, and cupcakes. And since you're here..." She continues, "You're gonna come with me and help cook!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Yeah. Isn't it great?" Tori smiles.  
  
"But-But I don't even like my own cooking." Shane whines. Cam laughs at him.  
  
"Don't worry about it. I'll be there."  
  
Shane frowns. "Aren't I the lucky one?" He stated in sarcasm.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Here's your change. Have a good day, ma'am." Hunter puts the receipt in the bag and hands it over to the lady. "Have a Merry Christmas now."  
  
"You too, young man and have a Happy New Year." She smiles as she leaves Storm Chargers.  
  
"Next in line please." Hunter calls out as a man stood in front of him. "Hey there. Will this be it for you?" He asks as the man nods his head. "Alright."  
  
"Hey, Hunter." Dustin hisses as he comes up to him.  
  
"Dude, can't you see I'm busy right now?" Hunter groans as he opens the cash register.  
  
"Listen, there's this girl in the corner that totally has her eye on you."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm serious, dude. She's been standing there, staring. And believe me, she's pretty hot." Dustin adds.  
  
"Man, go away. Not now." Hunter grunts as he hands the man his bag. "Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year." He smiles.  
  
"Here." Dustin shoves Hunter to the side. "Let me take over. Now go talk to her, man!"  
  
"What? Why?" Hunter asks.  
  
"Well...I think she wants your assistance more than mine. So go! She's near the surfboards."  
  
"Why are you doing this?"  
  
"Because she's pretty cute!" Dustin exclaims.  
  
Hunter laughs. "Marah is so gonna kick your butt once she finds out that you've been checking out some other chick."  
  
"Well she won't." He gives Hunter the evil eye.  
  
"Right. I'll uhh go now."  
  
Hunter walks away.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Next in line please." Dustin calls out, ignoring the customer in front of him. His eyes were gazed on Hunter and the attractive brunette.  
  
"Um excuse me." The young man from the counter tries to get his attention. "Hey dude." He taps Dustin on his shoulder.  
  
"Wait up." He shrugs it off. "Oh man. He is so into her!" Dustin grins, watching Hunter and the brunette exchange hand shakes. The young customer stares at him weirdly.  
  
"Uh yeah? Dustin?" He calls out his name.  
  
"Man, hold up." Dustin groans in annoyance, not looking up.  
  
"Dustin! You are so close in getting fired." Kelly says, standing in front of him.  
  
"Huh?" He looks up. "OH! I'm so sorry, Kel. You're uhh back already!"  
  
She smiles. "You have a surprise customer in front of you."  
  
"OH! Opps. Sorry." He chuckles, turning around. Dustin looks up at the young man. "Hey there. How are you today?" He stops and gasps. Dustin slowly lifts his head up. "Oh...my...God... "He rubs his eyes. "NO WAY! It's YOU!"  
  
Kelly smiles.  
  
"Dustin. My man. Long time no see." He responds, shaking hands with him.  
  
Dustin chokes. "I can't believe it! Dude, Hunter!" He yells across the shop. "Look who's here!"  
  
Hunter turns around. "Great." He sighs. "I uh got to go." He says to the brunette. "Umm...catch yah later?"  
  
"Of course, dude." She playfully nudges his shoulder. "You look good."  
  
Hunter squints at her. "Umm...thanks, I guess. You too." He coughs. "Dude, you still talk like that?"  
  
"Heck yah, man."  
  
He laughs. "Alright, man--" Hunter pauses. "Umm...I mean woman." Hunter laughs. "Take it easy. Thanks for visiting."  
  
"Hunter, hurry up!" Dustin yells impatiently.  
  
"Well, you're friend is calling you," The brunette smiles. She looks over at their direction and opens her mouth in surprise. "Oh my...isn't that your brother waving at us?"  
  
"What?" He quickly turns himself around. His eyes open wide in shock. "Blake!"


	11. Reunion

**QUICK SUMMARY: Hunter falls to a dream that seemed so real as soon as he awakes.**

**"Reunion"**  
  
"Bro, you're back!" Hunter exclaims in surprised as they did their little handshake. "This is awesome!"  
  
Blake smiles. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you, bro."  
  
Dustin and Kelly both smiled. "Dude, how did you get here?" He asks.  
  
"Kelly."  
  
Hunter looks at her. "And you didn't tell me?!" He shrieks.  
  
"Hey. Don't look at me. I tried to tell you several times, but you totally ignore me." Kelly explains with her hands on her hips. "But whatever. It's supposed to be a surprise anyway." Hunter just shrugs.  
  
"So are you staying for good?" Dustin asks.  
  
Blake nods his head in dismay. "Leaving on the 26th. Factor Blue riders are touring around the world next year. Can't miss it, man."  
  
"NO WAY!" Dustin gasps. "I'm so jealous of you!"  
  
"Really? That's great!" Kelly exclaims.  
  
"That's totally cool, bro." Hunter smiles proudly.  
  
Blake nods. "Thanks. So..." He shifts his head around. "Where's Tori and Shane?" He asks, anxious to see them, especially the blonde.   
  
Kelly shrugs.  
  
"They left hours ago." Dustin scratches his head. "Not sure where though."  
  
"Well wherever they are...Tori is going to freak once she sees you!" Kelly exclaims excitedly. "And of course Shane." She adds with a chuckle.  
  
Hunter pursed his lips and looks down at the ground.  
  
Blake smiles. "Can't wait."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Alright!" Cam gets up from his computer as soon as he sniffed something delicious that filled the room. "What did you guys bring?" He asks as soon as Tori and Shane entered Ninja ops with trays full of goodies.  
  
Tori smiles. "We made spaghetti, fried chicken, rice, fries, salad and--"  
  
"My very own...barbeque baby!" Shane interrupts the blonde, showing off his well-cook chicken wings on the plate. "Made from yours truly."  
  
Cam chuckles. "Wow! Looks great!"  
  
"Oh shoot." Tori pauses as soon as she lay the rest down on the table.  
  
"What?" Shane asks.  
  
"I totally forgot to bring ranch dressing." She hits herself on the head. "We have to go and buy some now."  
  
Shane stares at her weirdly. "Ranch isn't necessary, Tor."  
  
"But Hunter can't eat salad without ranch." Tori whines.  
  
"So?"  
  
"So...I must get some." She replies with a sigh. "Oh! And cheese too!"  
  
"YES. Cheese is a must on my spaghetti." Cam adds.  
  
Tori nods. "I know what you mean. All right. Let's go, Shane."  
  
"What? No way. I'm not going to leave all this food here." He crosses his arms.  
  
She sighs. "Cam is here. He can watch it. Now let's go." Tori pulls his arm.  
  
Shane stops. "You're gonna actually trust him with all this food? It's gonna be all gone till we come back!" He exclaims.  
  
Cam rolls his eyes. "Shane, that would only happen if it was you watching over the food."  
  
He made a face. "Don't worry about it." Tori giggles. "Now let's go!" She drags Shane behind her.  
  
"Oh fine, but stop by at Storm Chargers after. I have to get something."  
  
Tori nods. "Alright."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So, bro..are you staying at my place?" Hunter asks as he sat next to Blake on the couch. He handed him a Pepsi can.  
  
"Thanks." Blake began to switch channels on the TV. "Nah, man. I would, but I'm staying at a hotel that's paid for and I don't want it to go to a waste."  
  
Hunter nods. "I understand."  
  
Blake suddenly turns off the TV and pops the soda can open. "So how do you like Dustin as your roommate?" He asks.  
  
The dirty blonde chuckles, "It's crazy, man."  
  
"Yeah. I bet." He smirks.  
  
"HUNTER!" Kelly yells out from across the shop. "Time for you to do inventory."  
  
Hunter groans lazily. "Man, I just got here."  
  
"Ha! Sucks for you." Blake chuckles.  
  
Hunter playfully punches him on the stomach. "Just one more hour."  
  
"Stay in there, bro." He winks.  
  
Hunter gets up from the couch and walks over to the counter where Dustin was loading tools in a box. Hunter stood in front of him and began counting cash in the register. Dustin looks at him. "So...what happened?"  
  
Hunter stares at him weirdly. "What do you mean what happened?"  
  
"You and that brunette chick!" He exclaims. "You never said anything so how did it go?"  
  
Hunter grins. "You wouldn't want to know."  
  
"Oh come on, man. Trust me. I do want to know."  
  
Hunter glares at him. "That was Will...one of my close friends."  
  
Dustin's smile suddenly turned into a frown. "Will? Umm...isn't that a dude's name?" He questions.  
  
"Yeah, doofus!" He smacked him on the back of his head. "Will, as known as Maggie."  
  
"Whoa whoa whoa. Wait a minute." Dustin chuckles. "Are you saying, that hot brunette is actually a dude?!" He asks abruptly.  
  
Hunter nods his head with an evil smirk. "Yeah...and uh...he asked me about you." He winks.  
  
Dustin looked at him in disgust. "Oh God, I think I'm going to puke!" He immediately shoves Hunter aside and rushed to the bathroom. Hunter laughs at him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So you got the ranch?" Tori asks, while driving.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And the cheese?"  
  
"YES!" Shane answers in annoyance.  
  
Tori looks at him. "You sure."  
  
"Oh my God..."  
  
"I'm kidding!" She chuckles.  
  
Shane glares at her. "Funny." Tori stuck her tongue out.  
  
They finally arrived at Storm Chargers as Tori stops and parks in front of it. The two unbuckled their seatbelt and got out of the van.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was 7:30 pm. Hunter just finished counting the money and putting it all back in the cash register. Dustin came out from the bathroom with his hand over his mouth; still appalled from what he just heard about the brunette chick. He then began to clean up. The store was about to come to a close in 30 minutes. "What a long day..." Hunter yawns as he laid his head down and slowly fell right asleep on the counter.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
_"Blake!" Tori went running towards him with her arms wide open as soon as she recogized him from afar. Hunter looks up at their direction. "You're finally back!" She squeals.  
  
"Tori." Blake smiles as he wraps his arms around her waist. "Wow, you're beautiful."  
  
Hunter rolls his eyes.  
  
"I missed you!" She cries, putting her arms around his neck. "Please tell me you're staying!"  
  
Blake grins. "Of course I am."  
  
"What?!" Hunter snaps all of a sudden. The two stared at him. "What about the tour? I thought you didn't want to miss it?"  
  
His little brother smiles back at Tori. "Change of plans, Hunter. I want to stay here in Blue Bay Harbor after all...just to be with her."  
  
Tori giggles as the two slowly lock lips in front of him.  
  
"No..." Hunter nods his head in dismay. "No!"  
_  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"NOOO!" Hunter immediately gets up. Tori and Blake parted from a hug as they stared at him weirdly. The room was filled with silence as all eyes were on him. Hunter rubs his eyes, spotting Tori and Blake next to each other. "Oh my God, this wasn't a dream." Tori looks at him in concern.  
  
"You alright, bro?" Blake asks, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
  
Hunter shrugs it off. "Dude, I thought you were touring next year?!" He splutters out angrily.  
  
Blake wrinkles his forehead and gave him a confused stare. "Umm...I am."  
  
"Then why--" Hunter trails off as he stares at Tori for a moment. She was wearing a jean jacket under her blue tank top with a long white skirt. God, she's beautiful, Hunter thought as he shook his head and looks up. "Ugh. Never mind." He yawns.  
  
"Dude, you look tired." Dustin observes in concern.  
  
"Yeah. Why won't I just take you home or something?" Tori insist.  
  
"No, no." Hunter sighs. "I'm fine."  
  
"You sure?" Shane asks in concern.  
  
He smiles. "Yeah, man. No worries. I just had a dream. That's all."  
  
Dustin bit his lip.  
  
"Look, you two should go. I'll take it from here." Kelly tells Dustin and Hunter.  
  
"You sure?"  
  
Kelly nods reassuringly. "Just go. Have fun." She smiles.  
  
"Thanks, Kel." Dustin smiles.  
  
The five of them left Storm Chargers.


	12. Grubbing At Ops

**QUICK SUMMARY:** A little bit of flirting. Oh La La.  
  
**"Grubbing At Ops"**  
  
"Man, that was good." Hunter smiles in satisfaction as he gets up for seconds.  
  
Dustin rubs his stomach. "I hear that, dude. Is there any more barbeque wings?" He asks. Tori hands him the plate. "Alright!" He smiles. "Thanks."  
  
Shane grins. "Wasn't my cooking the best? I mean we're almost out of barbeque wings!" He exclaims.  
  
Tori glares at him. "Get real. I helped you marinate it!"  
  
"Yeah, but you didn't exactly cook it did yah?!" He blurts out.  
  
"Hey! I showed you out to cook it!" Tori raises a brow.  
  
"Hey now. Both of your cooking was great, okay?" Cam stated, to stop them from arguing.  
  
"I must agree." Sensei adds with a smile.  
  
"Yeah." Blake nods as he pats her on the knee. "Shane's barbeque wings are great, and Tori, your salad is awesome!"  
  
She smiles. "Really? Thanks!"  
  
"Well..." Hunter stares at the salad on his plate disgustingly as he fiddles the lettuce with his fork.  
  
"What?" She asks. "What's with the look?"  
  
He looks up at her. "Umm...Tor, you brought ranch dressing right? You know how I can't eat salad without ranch dressing."  
  
"Oh yeah! Of course, I knew that." She gets up and hands the bottle of dressing from the grocery bag to him.  
  
Hunter smiles. "Alright!" He rubs his hands together. Once Tori handed him the ranch dressing, he immediately unwraps the plastic around the bottle with his teeth and tossed it in the garbage. Hunter tries to twist the cap open, but it wouldn't budge. "Dang it. This stupid thing won't open." He groans as he used the bottom of his shirt to open it.  
  
"Well, try twisting the cap the other way." Tori suggested.  
  
Hunter lifts the bottle upside down and began smacking the bottom of it. He then, turned it over and attempts to twist it the other way. Hunter used the bottom of his shirt once again, and suddenly the bottle cap clicked. He smiles. "Oh yah, am I good or what?!" Hunter blurts out as he twists the bottle cap easily. He tosses the cap as the opening faced Tori. Without noticing, he squeezed the bottle, and squirted ranch dressing on Tori's shirt. The guys in the room gasped. All eyes were on him as it came to a complete silence. "Opps." He pressed his lips together to keep himself from laughing as the guys snickered silently among themselves. "Umm...my bad." Hunter wiped some of the dressing off of Tori with his finger and licks it off. "Hmm, taste good, Tor! Want some?"  
  
Tori evilly glares at him. "Hunter...."  
  
He smiles sweetly at her. "Uhh...sorry?"  
  
"Boy, you better start running." She warns him.  
  
Hunter dropped the bottle and exchanged looks with the other guys. He slowly gets up and faces Tori. "Uh yeah...umm...GOT TO RUN!" He rushed past Tori and runs out of Ninja Ops. The beauty runs after him. The guys exchange looks and began laughing hysterically.  
  
"Man, I wouldn't want to be in Hunter shoes." Shane stated with a chuckle.  
  
"Seriously, dude. Tori hits hard." Dustin adds with a smirk.  
  
Blake grins. "Hopefully she doesn't kill my brother." He then sighs.  
  
Dustin looks at him and smiles as the other guys went up to get more food. "Dude, she's not gonna actually kill him yah know." He nudges his shoulder. "Don't worry about it."  
  
He chuckles. "Of course not. It's just that--" Blake stops and trails off. He looks at the goofball and nodded his head. "Never mind. It's stupid."  
  
"No dude, what is it?" Dustin asks in curiosity.  
  
He pursed his lips and sighs. "Dustin, is it just me or did Hunter and Tori get closer while I was gone?" Blake wonders.  
  
Dustin gulps. "Well...umm...yeah! They became closer friends. Why? Does it bother you?"  
  
"No, not exactly." Blake chuckles. "They seem to be flirting a lot though from what I am seeing."  
  
Dustin coughs. "Flirting?" He laughs. "Yeah right. He's just bugging the crap out of her, as always!"  
  
"I'm serious, dude. It looks like it." Blake stated surely. "And it's weird because Hunter use to--" He suddenly pauses.  
  
"Use to what?" The goofball raised an eyebrow.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Tori, I'm sorry!" Hunter chuckles as he stops in front of her van and surrenders. "It was an accident!" He puts his hands up, panting breathlessly. Tori stops for air. She stood in front of him with a wicked eye. Hunter laughs at her. "You know, I'm sorry to say this, but ranch dressing definitely looks good on you." He stated jokingly.  
  
Tori beams at him. "Thanks. You're so gonna get it now!"  
  
"Ahh!" He shouts out as he runs back to Ninja Ops.


	13. Feelings Kept

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Hunter spills the truth. Tori gets a surprise offer from Blake. But will she accept it?  
  
**"Feelings Kept"**  
  
"Alright, I'm stuffed." Dustin burps as he slowly gets up. Cam looks at him in disgust. "I'm going home."  
  
Shane also rises up. "Same here, dude. Do you mind giving me a lift?"  
  
He nods his head. "No, not at all."  
  
"You guys go ahead. I'll take it from here." Cam insists as he began cleaning up.  
  
"Hmmm." Blake pursed his lips. "I wonder where Hunter and Tori is..." He suddenly mentions in curiosity.  
  
"Probably beating the crap out of Hunter." Dustin chuckles. "Who knows? She may have killed him by now and went out to bury him." Blake's eyes widened. He laughs. "Just kidding, man."  
  
"AHHH!" The guys all looked up at the shouting coming their way.  
  
"Well, there they are now." Shane points out.  
  
They watched on as Hunter ran back inside with Tori behind him. Hunter runs towards Dustin as he immediately jumps in front of Tori. Hunter stood behind his roommate, breathing heavily. "Thanks, dude." He pats him on his shoulder. "God, this girl is fast."  
  
Tori smirks. "Try to keep up."  
  
Cam eyed the two as he sighs in annoyance. "This is no place to play tag you guys."  
  
Tori and Hunter both looked down in guilt. "Sorry, Cam." They apologized in unison.  
  
"Okay, okay that's enough you too." Blake smiles as he put his arms around Tori and Hunter. "I should get going. Need to catch a cab."  
  
"Hey, don't be silly. Let me drive you." Tori insist on right away. "Your stuff is in my van anyway. That will save yourself the trouble."  
  
He nods with a smile. "Great. Thanks, Tor."  
  
"No problem." She replies as they walked out of Ninja Ops. Hunter stares at their direction and sighs.  
  
"Come on, guys. Let's go." Dustin led the way. Shane and Hunter both followed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Thanks for the ride, Dustin." Shane jumps out of his gray van as soon as Dustin parked on his driveway. "Drive safely. Later, dudes." He waved to them.  
  
"Later." Dustin and Hunter said at the same time. They watched on until Shane entered his house and closed the door shut. Dustin then, turned on the ignition to start the van. "Alright. Now you and I can talk." The goofball stated as he backs up and pressed on the gas.  
  
Hunter gives him a weird look. "Talk about what?" He asks.  
  
Dustin stares at him as he suddenly pressed on the brakes, forcing Hunter to move forward and then back. He turned off the ignition and beams right at him. "Um, dude...why did you stop?" Hunter asks.  
  
Dustin sighs. "I want the truth."  
  
"Truth about what?" He chuckles.  
  
"About your feelings towards Tori and Blake, and how you suddenly have feelings for her." He replies seriously. "And don't think I'm joking."  
  
Hunter wrinkles his forehead. "Dude, you lost me."  
  
Dustin sighs. "Okay, let me break it down for you. When I first introduced you to Tori, what was your first impression of her?" He questions him.  
  
"Well, I agreed with Blake. She was FINE." He answers.  
  
"Okay...and when Blake starts hanging out with her.... how did it make you feel?"  
  
Hunter shrugs. "Um...I was okay with it."  
  
"Alright." Dustin nods. "And when you and Blake have plans together, and he suddenly invites Tori--"  
  
"I wasn't exactly thrilled about it." He answers honestly, remembering the time when Blake invited Tori to the movies with them.  
  
"Okay! We're getting somewhere!" Dustin exclaims excitedly.  
  
Hunter sighs. "Where exactly is this going anyway?"  
  
"Don't you get it? You use to never really like having Tori around, only when Blake--"  
  
"It's not like I never liked her." Hunter explains clearly. "Tori is a great friend. I know. It's her and Blake that annoys me."  
  
Dustin raised a brow. "Oh? Hmmm. Interesting..."  
  
"What?" Hunter looks up. "What is?"  
  
"All that flirting and chemistry between the two bothered you, didn't it?" He assumes.  
  
Hunter chuckles as he tries to keep a straight face. "No."  
  
"Sure." Dustin coughs. "It explains why you make fun of her a lot, or should I say flirt?"  
  
"Dude, I make fun of her a lot because--" Hunter suddenly trails off. "Because..."  
  
"Because..."  
  
"Because I thought maybe doing so would keep me distant from her; keep myself from seeing her the way Blake sees in her."  
  
"Distant from her?" Dustin sniggers. "That's only making you closer to her."  
  
Hunter heaved another sigh. "Yes, I know that."  
  
"Well...?"  
  
"Well..." He continues. "When I notice the way she looks at Blake...I thought, man...I don't stand a chance..." Hunter looks down. "That's why I never really took the time to know her...till last year of course."  
  
"When Blake left." Dustin looks at him remorsefully. "Man, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."  
  
Hunter smiles. "It's cool. Well now you do."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?!"  
  
"Dude, I am known for keeping my own feelings to myself. And most importantly, you're such a blabber mouth!" Hunter blurts out.  
  
"So you've liked Tori all this time?" He asks as Hunter nods.  
  
"I guess so."  
  
"That's crazy! You should tell her how you feel then."  
  
"I can't." He sighs deeply. "What's the point? She's probably still into him. And what drives me crazy the most," Hunter adds on, "is the fact that my brother is with her at this very moment. Who knows what they would be doing..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tori finally arrived at the Grand Hotel. She parked in front of the entrance way as she and Blake sat in the van, laughing. "I can't believe you got whooped by a female on a 250," The blonde chuckles. "I bet you got distracted by the way she looked."  
  
Blake laughs. "No way. She had more experienced than I do, okay."  
  
"I bet that turns you on." Tori winks.  
  
"Look, the last person that ever turned me on; that I actually had feelings for--" Blake trails off, looking at her. "Was you." Tori bit her lip and looks away in pleased embarrassment. The van was now filled with awkward silence.  
  
"Well it's getting late." Tori pressed her lips together to keep herself from smiling. "You umm...should get going."  
  
Blake nods. "Yeah, you're right." He unshackles his seatbelt. "Oh! But wait." He stops to get something from his bag. "I umm...got something for you as an early Christmas present." Blake says as he hands her a long envelope.  
  
"Another card?" Tori smiles.  
  
He chuckles. "Just open it."  
  
She examines the envelope real closely, and began tearing it open. Tori arched her brow as she took out a brochure that showed different countries. "Oh wow..." She says while flipping the pages. "My very own, brochure."  
  
"Go to the last page." Blake smiles excitedly.  
  
Tori turns to end of the brochure, where there stood a ticket. Her eyes immediately opened wide as she took it out. "Wow...A one way plane ticket?" She gasps.  
  
"Yeah." He grins at her. "As you may already know by now..." Blake began to explain. "Factor Blue riders are touring around the world on the New Year...and I want you to come with me."  
  
Tori was in total shock. "Blake, I--"  
  
"Look." He took her hand. "Before you turn it down, think about it. Remember how you told me you wanted to travel to different places and go around the world?" Blake asks as she nods her head. "Well Tor, this is a great opportunity. We'll be traveling around the world, visiting all sorts of countries. And think about it, you'll be with me most of the time, which would gives us the chance to catch up on things! It'll be fun!"  
  
Tori looked at him unsurely. "Wow...this is great, Blake. But--"  
  
"Please, think about it before you say no." He pleaded.  
  
She looks down and sighs. "When are you planning to leave?"  
  
"On the 26th, right after Christmas." He answers. "Just give it a day to think about it, Tor."  
  
She smiles slightly at him. "Okay. I will."  
  
"Awesome." Blake smiles as he leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. Tori blushed. "Thanks for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"All right. Bye." She smiles.


	14. Kodak Moment

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Tori arrives at Hunter's apartment, little did she know what she was about to see in him…  
  
**"Kodak Moment"**  
  
On Christmas Morning...  
  
"Dude, wake up! It's snowing out, man!" Dustin shook the sleeping Hunter excitedly as soon as he opened the blinds. Hunter covered his eyes as the light hit his room. "Come on! Wake up!" Dustin groans impatiently, removing the covers off of him.  
  
Hunter gets up lazily and looks at his clock. "Dude, it's 7 in the morning. Leave me alone." He yawns and covers his face with the pillow.  
  
Dustin sighs. "Fine. Have it your way."  
  
Suddenly, Tori comes in. She looks at Dustin and then at Hunter. "You guys ready yet?"  
  
Hunter looks up and smiles surprisingly at her unexpected appearance. "Um...Hey, Tor. I didn't know you were coming over." He says, fixing his messy hair a bit.  
  
She nods. "Yeah, Dustin called me up if I wanted to go skiing and snowboarding at the slopes. So here I am! Are you coming or what?" She asks all of a sudden.  
  
Hunter shook his head. "Well now I am. Just give me a moment to get ready." He says, getting up from bed. Dustin smirks at him.  
  
"Alright." Tori smiles. "Take your time. I'll be in the living room." She turns around and leaves.  
  
Dustin nods his head in dismay. "So you only go when she goes eh?" He grins.  
  
Hunter looks away and smiles. "Shut up."  
  
He chuckles. "You are sooooo into her!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Moments later...  
  
"So..." Dustin starts off as he began making coffee for Tori in the kitchen. "Doesn't it feel weird to have Blake around again?"  
  
Tori looks at him and shrugs. "It's a bit awkward, but I'm glad he's here." She adds with a smile.  
  
Dustin smirks. "You still have feelings for him, don't you?"  
  
She looks down, pursing her lips. "I don't know. I can't exactly answer that." Tori sighs. "I'm a bit confused."  
  
"But what about Hunter?" He blurts out unexpectedly.  
  
Tori stares at him in mere suspicion. "Hunter?" She laughs. "What about him?"  
  
Dustin coughs. "Oh nothing. So, you want cream in your coffee right?" He asks, changing the subject.  
  
She raises her eyebrows and nods. "Umm...yeah. Sure." Dustin hands her the coffee. "Thanks."  
  
"So why are you confused?" Dustin wonders in curiosity.  
  
Tori bit her lip as she slowly looks up at her good friend. "Blake wants me to tour with him." She sighs deeply.  
  
Dustin immediately choked on his coffee. He suddenly places the cup on the table and stares at Tori in shock. "You're not serious are you?"  
  
She sighs. "No, I'm for real. He gave me a plane ticket for tomorrow and I don't know what to do! I can't leave Blue Bay Harbor."  
  
"Oh my God. He didn't even invite me to go!" Dustin splutters out angrily.  
  
"What should I do?"  
  
He smiles. "You should blow him off and give me the ticket!" Dustin laughs jokingly. Tori gives him a serious look. "No, I'm kidding."  
  
She sighs. "Dustin, seriously. I don't know what to do."  
  
"Well, do you want to go?"  
  
Tori shrugs. "Well...I do! I've always wanted to tour around the world...but..."  
  
"But..."  
  
"But..." She sighs, "I'm going to miss it here."  
  
Dustin smiles. "Come on, Tor. It's not like you're moving out permanently. You're just taking a vacation. Think of it as a once in a lifetime thing."  
  
"I know, but..." She trails off. "I'm going to miss you guys too much...and being far away from home for a couple of months will be difficult to cope with. And plus, I can't leave ninja school. I have classes to teach."  
  
"Shane and I can handle it." Dustin says reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. Go out and have fun."  
  
"Handle what?" Hunter suddenly comes out from the bathroom, wearing only a towel around his waist. Tori stares at him with his muscular and fit body dripping with water completely lost and out there. She drifted into space as Dustin tries to get her attention by waving a hand in front of her.  
  
"Yo, Tor!" He chuckles, nudging her shoulder. "Snap out of it."  
  
She shook her head up. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry!" Tori immediately turns around, feeling quite embarrassed.  
  
Dustin smirks at her.  
  
"It's not like you've never seen me without my shirt on." Hunter stated with a wink.  
  
Tori looks away. "I'll umm...go to the living room now."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You should've seen your face!" Dustin chuckles. "You were drooling all over him!"  
  
Tori glares at him. "No I wasn't!"  
  
"Dude, seriously. Your face suddenly lit up." He adds. "That look of yours is pretty cute though. You should've seen it."  
  
"As if!" She chuckles, hitting Dustin with a pillow.  
  
"Alright, guys! I'm ready!" Hunter finally walks in. Tori and Dustin got up when suddenly the doorbell rang. Dustin went to get it.  
  
"You alright there?" Hunter asks the blonde, as he stood right in front of her.  
  
She rubs her eyes and smiles. "Yeah, just thinking that's all."  
  
"Thinking? About what?"  
  
"Hey guys, look who's here." Dustin interrupted the two. Tori and Hunter both watched on as Blake walks in.  
  
Great, Hunter thought to himself as Tori went to greet him.


	15. Snow Day

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Hunter, Tori, and Blake find some complications down the slopes.  
  
**"Snow Day"**  
  
"Why did I even come here?" Hunter sighs as he watches Blake and Tori walk up the hill with their snowboards.  
  
"To be Tori, that's for sure." Dustin chuckles as he puts the finishing touches to the snowman they built. "Alright. This baby is looking awesome!" He exclaims happily.  
  
"Dude, I totally give up." Hunter slumps on the snow and began digging a hole. "There's no use in telling her how I feel. She's still into my brother, might as well live with it."  
  
Dustin rolls his eyes in annoyance. "Dude, didn't we already go over this?" Hunter just shrugs. "If you don't tell her how you feel, you'll end up regretting it. Trust me, man. You want to tell her before she leaves tomorrow."  
  
"Before she leaves tomorrow?" Hunter questions him. Dustin looks away and bit his lip.  
  
"Uhhhh...umm...hmmm, you see, dude." He pauses. "Well uhhh." Dustin smacks himself on the head. He slowly turns to Hunter. "I'm not sure if I'm suppose to say anything..."  
  
Hunter wrinkles his forehead as he stood up in front of him. "What is it, bro?"  
  
Dustin gives him a concern look. He then nods his head in dismay. "Forget about it." He chuckles. "It's nothing."  
  
"WATCH OUT!" Shane yells as he slides down the hill on his snowboard, jumping over the snowman. Hunter was caught off guard in amazement. "Wahoo! YEAH!  
  
"WHOAAA!" Dustin cheers him on as Shane landed smoothly on the snowy ground. "Right on, dude!"  
  
Shane stops himself and unshackles his snowboard. Hunter and Dustin walk up to him. "What are you two doing down here?" He smirks. "You guys are missing out in all the fun!"  
  
Dustin laughs. "No. You see, dude, the snowboard and me can never get along. Remember last year when--"  
  
"You ran over a tree." Hunter chuckles. "Man, that was hilarious!" Dustin gives him the evil eye.  
  
"Right." Shane smirks. "I'm going back up."  
  
"Hey, I'll go with ya." Hunter follows him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Um this is a bit too high, don't you think?" Tori mentions worriedly as she stood at the edge of the mountain on her snowboard. She spotted Dustin, Hunter, and Shane waving to them from the bottom.  
  
Blake smiles at her. "You're not scared are you?"  
  
She stares at him in concern. "Uhh...no?" He gives her a serious look. She turns around. "Err fine." Tori sighs. "Yes, I'm a bit nervous okay."  
  
"Wow. The hardcore surf girl is actually scared of heights. There's something you don't hear everyday." Blake mentions jokingly.  
  
"Look, it's not like surfing. You don't go this high." She groans.  
  
"Just imagine the snow is water."  
  
"Have you snowboarded before?" Tori asks.  
  
"Uh no." He nods.  
  
"Okay, thought so."  
  
"Look, would it help if I go down first?" He asks.  
  
"Do you have some experience?" She wonders. "Or are you just saying that to make me look bad?"  
  
Blake smiles at her. "I've snowboarded before, but I'm still at a number one level."  
  
"Okay hot shot. Let's see what you got. After you." She steps out of his way.  
  
He chuckles. "Alright, whatever you say." Blake stood on his snowboard from the edge of the hill. He slides on it back and forth to get the feel of it. He then, slips on his goggles.  
  
"Are you going or what?" Tori asks impatiently. "Or do you need a hand?" She says, pushing his snowboard from behind. Blake was off.  
  
"Wait. No, TORI!!" He shouts out as he goes down the slope. "NOOOO! I LIIEED!"  
  
"Uh oh." Tori gasp.  
  
"HELP!!" Blake yells, suddenly losing control of his balance.  
  
"Blake!" She shrieks. "Uh...HOLD ON!" Tori quickly gets on her snowboard. She closes her eyes and took a deep breath. "Here it goes." She pushes the snowboard down and went off. "Oh...wow." She smiles, enjoying the ride. "This isn't so bad. HOLD ON, BLAKE!" Tori shouts out once more, jumping off the huge rock.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
  
Hunter and Shane looked at each other. "Did you hear that?"  
  
"Yeah. It sounds like Blake." Hunter noticed. They both looked up. His eyes went wide open. "WATCH OUT!" Hunter pulls Shane aside.  
  
"TORI!!! HUNTER!! ANYONE! HELP!!!" Blake slid past them with Tori behind.  
  
"HOLD ON, BLAKE!" She screeched.  
  
Hunter began breathing heavily as he looked down at them. "Um, let me borrow that." He says, grabbing Shane's snowboard. Hunter then goes off with it.  
  
"Wait! Dude, be careful!" Shane warns him.  
  
"You idiot!" Tori snaps angrily at Blake, while snowboarding after him. "You said you were at a beginning level!"  
  
"I liiied okay!" He yells back at her, trying to avoid the bushes and various trees around the area. "I was trying to impress you!"  
  
"Impress me?! And by doing that, you'll risk your own life?!"  
  
"I guess so!" He says, moving his arms around to stay balanced.  
  
"You're even a bigger idiot than I thought!" She retorts, and at the same time, felt her heart skip a beat by the sound of that. She smiles warmly for a moment and then puts on a serious face. "HOLD ON!"  
  
"You lied to me too!" He yells. "I thought you couldn't snowboard!"  
  
"I thought so too!"  
  
"Oh God. How do I stop?!" Blake cries out.  
  
"Uh...get off it!" She answers.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Just fall!"  
  
"And how do I do that?!"  
  
"Lay on your back!" She shouts out.  
  
Blake looks straight ahead. He gasps at the sight of Dustin and a built snowman in front of him. "Uh oh. GET OUT OF THE WAY!" He yells.  
  
Dustin looks up. "Oh no. Not good." He quickly steps aside.  
  
"NOOOO!" Blake covers his face as he runs over the snowman. He stops and watches Tori soar above him, jumping over the snowman. "Whoooa! Tori!"  
  
"Watch out!" A voice came from behind as it went soaring above him as well.  
  
"Hunter?" Blake questions.  
  
Dustin runs up to give Blake a hand. "What's going on?" He asks, dusting snow off him.  
  
"Aw shoot! How do I stop?!" Tori panicked.  
  
"Make a 180 degree turn, Tor!" A familiar voice shouts out from behind her.  
  
She turns around and gasps. "Hunter?!" Tori suddenly made a sharp turn at the sight of him. The snowboard skidded and suddenly stopped. "Alright! I did it!" She opens her eyes.  
  
"Tori! Watch out!"  
  
She looks up and gasps as Hunter tried to stop in front of her. "Oh no."  
  
"AHHH!" He shouts as he and Tori ran into one another and began falling down the slope. "OOH! Ahh! Ouch!" Hunter groans as he and Tori continued to fall on top of each other.  
  
"Whoooa! NOO!" Tori and Hunter finally came to a complete stop as they rolled over to a tree. She landed on top of him with his arms around her. Tori laid there, with her head on his shoulder, breathing heavily. Hunter felt her body shivered in fright as he began stroking her hair. "It's okay, Tor. It's all over now." He says calmly. She slowly moves up and looks down at him. He smiles and suddenly felt the heat of warmth entering his body.  
  
"Whew. We almost died there." She says in relief.  
  
"Yeah." Hunter smiles as he wipes snow off her face. "You have some leaves on your hair. Let me help you with that." He says, taking them off her.  
  
Tori grins. "Thank you."  
  
"You guys alright?!" Blake asks worriedly as he and the other guys came running towards them. Tori immediately gets off of Hunter to help him up.  
  
"Yeah. We're fine." She says reassuringly.  
  
"Bro?" He looks at Hunter.  
  
"Gravy." The dirty blonde answers.  
  
"Dude, h-how and w-when did you guys learn how to snowboard like that?!" Shane asks in surprise. "That was awesome!"  
  
"Yeah. You two even ride better than him." Dustin blurts out.  
  
Hunter and Tori just shrugged.


	16. Showdown

**QUICK SUMMARY:** The drama starts kicking in when Hunter finds out about Tori's present from Blake.  
  
**"Showdown"**  
  
6:00 pm  
  
"Wow, Tor. You got me my very own blue boxers and," Hunter trails off as he took something else out from the box. "Blue gloves and helmet. Uhh blue everything." The guys laughed. They were all opening some presents they brought with them from Ninja ops.  
  
She smiles. "I always thought blue looked good on you."  
  
"Thanks." He chuckles.  
  
"Okay, Tor! Time for you to open mine!" Shane steps in, handing her a present. "Open it!"  
  
"Great." She says giving him a quick hug before ripping the gift wrapper apart. "Let's see what we have here." Tori opens the box. "Oh wow!" Her eyes sparkled in excitement. "A cake!"  
  
"Yup!" He nods. "It's your favorite too. Mocha Almond fudge made from yours truly!"  
  
"Oh yum!" Dustin went to grab some, but Shane immediately slapped his hand. "Ow."  
  
"Thanks, Shane! This tastes awesome!" Tori smiles happily, licking it off with her fingers. "Hey. How about some coffee you guys?"  
  
They all nodded. "Sounds great to me. I'll go with you." Blake insists as he followed her to the cafe. Hunter beams at their direction. Man, he thought. There goes my chance.  
  
Dustin puts a hand on his shoulder. "So when are you going to tell her huh?"  
  
"Like never." Shane blurts out from behind.  
  
Hunter sighs. "I don't know. Shane's probably right."  
  
Dustin groans.  
  
"Hey, what were you going to tell me earlier today?" He asks.  
  
He looks at Hunter, puzzled. "Tell you what?"  
  
"Something about Tori leaving tomorrow."  
  
Dustin gulps. "Oh...ummm...yeahh. About that..."  
  
"Oh? Tori didn't tell you she was leaving with Blake?" Shane wonders as Dustin smacked his friend's head from behind. "Ouch, man!" Hunter looks at them in surprised. "Okay...I guess not."  
  
"No way! Why didn't you guys tell me?!" Hunter asks in total shock. "Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't Blake?!"  
  
"Dude, they'll get to you." Shane replies calmly.  
  
"She can't leave! This her home why would she--"  
  
"Tori is just taking a vacation. That's all." Dustin says. "It's not like she's moving."  
  
"How long will she be gone?" Hunter asks impatiently.  
  
Shane shrugs. "I don't know, a few months. Maybe 6?"  
  
"6?!" He shrieks. "No way!"  
  
"You see. Now is a good time to tell her how you feel." Dustin exclaims with a smile.  
  
Hunter looks down. "You're right." He nods in agreement. "It's about time she finds out too." He says, walking towards the cafe.  
  
"Wait!" Dustin calls out. "I didn't mean now, now!" It was too late. Hunter was already getting the door.  
  
"Nice going." Shane murmurs under his breath. "Come on before they kill each other."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Can I have 3 vanilla cappuccinos and 2 mocha please?" Tori smiles as the worker punched in their orders.  
  
"Will that be it for you?" She nodded. "Okay that would be $17.99."  
  
Tori went to get money from her pocket, but Blake already placed a 20- dollar bill on the table. "Let me." He smiles.  
  
"No, you don't have to."  
  
"Tori, I got it." Blake says, accepting his change. "Thanks."  
  
"Gee. You didn't have to do that." Tori looks up at him as they walk towards a table to wait for their order.  
  
"No big, deal." He says, sitting down. "Oh and by the way, thanks for the present. I loved it!"  
  
"Good." She smiles.  
  
"So...have you thought about accepting mine yet?" Blake asks all of a sudden. Tori looks down. Before she could answer, Hunter made an unexpected entrance.  
  
"NO!!" He yells out, causing a commotion. "You can't go!"  
  
The cafe came to a complete silence. All eyes were on him. Tori and Blake exchanged looks and turned around.  
  
"Hunter?" The blonde questions. "You found out?"  
  
He nodded. "Yes, but you can't go! Please don't go!" He cries. The customers and the workers in the cafe watched on with great interest.  
  
"And why not?" Blake asks as he stood up in front of him.  
  
"Because!" Hunter tries hard to come up with something. "Because...well..." He began trailing off. "Wouldn't you rather have me go?" He asks as Tori rolls her eyes. Shane and Dustin suddenly bust the door open and went inside. Uh oh, they thought.  
  
"Don't look at me!" Dustin exclaims when all eyes were on him. "I tried to stop him."  
  
"Bro, I'm sorry. I thought you didn't want to go." Blake replies, remembering the time when Hunter rejected his offer.  
  
"Well...uhh I changed my mind!" He retorts. "I want to go."  
  
Tori didn't like the sound of that. She felt something was wrong. "Hunter, what is this all about anyway?" She glares at him with her hands on her hips. "Is that it? You just dont want me to go?"  
  
"Tori--I"  
  
"Oh I see now. You just want me to stay away from Blake, is that it?" She says with a small laugh. "God, why is it that you always try to ruin things between us? You never want me hanging around your brother. In fact, I don't think you ever liked having me as a friend."  
  
Blake stares at his brother with great sympathy. He didn't want to get involved nor could he have anything to say to back any of them up.  
  
"B-But no--"  
  
"You'll find any possible way just to keep us apart." Tori adds bitterly. "Argh, Hunter, when will you understand the fact that I-I like your brother?" The people stared at the blonde in awed. Blake looks up in surprise with a smile. She still has feelings for me, he thought.  
  
Hunter felt the pain knock his heart. He felt embarrassed; stupid for thinking Tori would actually have feelings for him. He wanted to walk away from this humiliating state. "You finished yet?" He asks, suddenly feeling angry.  
  
She calms down and nods. "Yeah. Now I am."  
  
Shane and Dustin exchanged looks. Just tell her, they thought. Tell her now!  
  
"Here's your coffee, miss." The worker placed their orders on the table. Tori looks up and thanked her.  
  
"You know what? Keep the coffee!" Hunter took out money from his wallet and slammed it on the table. Tori and Blake jumped up, startled. "Obviously you don't want to hear what I got to say, so what's the point in telling you. Merry Christmas! I'm outta here!" He barged out of the cafe angrily. Shane and Dustin felt worried for the guy as they watched him exit the cafe.  
  
"What's up with him?" Blake wonders in concern.  
  
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." Tori gets up.  
  
"I'll go with you."  
  
"No!" She tells him. "It's not you he as a problem with. It's me. I'll do it." Blake nods.  
  
They all watched on as the blonde runs after him. Shane nods his head in dismay. "Girls these days."

"Which explains why you don't have a girlfriend." Dustin mumbled under his breath. Shane slowly turns around and punches him on the shoulder. "Ow! I was kidding."


	17. The Truth

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Hunter finally reveals the truth, but actions speak louder than words.  
  
**"The Truth"**  
  
_"There's something you need to know, Tori before you go!" Hunter yells out from the distance. Tori looks up as she took her arms off of Blake.  
  
"What is it?" She asks, feeling irritated with Hunter for ruining their moment at the beach.  
  
"Tori, I--" Hunter began stuttering nervously as he slowly walks up to her. "I-I umm...."  
  
"You what?"  
  
"I-I'm falling for you." He finally said in relief. Tori looked at him in surprised as he caught his brother Blake glaring at him from behind. "In fact, I like you alot, Tori." Hunter adds surely. Tori looks down, feeling completely stunned. She didn't know what to say or what to feel.  
  
There was a sudden awkward of silence between the two. Hunter felt uncomfortable, standing in front of Tori and his brother, who felt the same way about her. Tension rises as Blake steps up with his fists clenched together. "How could you, Hunter?"  
  
He looks at him. "Bro, I'm sorry--"  
  
Blake took Hunter by the collar and gave him a blow to the face.  
_  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
9:00 pm  
  
"WHOA!" Hunter gets up from the couch, panting nervously. He touched one side of his face where Blake punched him, but luckily it was only a dream. He sighs deeply. "Man oh man. When will this ever stop?" He rises up from the couch till a sudden knock on the door startled him. Hunter groans as he walks to the door to get it. He turns the knob and swung the door open. And there she stood. He looks up in surprise. "Tori..."  
  
Her sea blue eyes were suddenly watery as Hunter stares at them in concern. She looks up at him and busted out crying. "Why did you leave like that?!" Tori cries as she buried herself on his chest. Hunter didn't know what to do. He pulled her closer inside as he shuts the door behind him. Hunter looks at Tori worriedly as he situated her on the couch. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" She sniffed, smacking him on the shoulder. "You got me worried! I was trying to look for you!" Hunter was speechless. "Why did you have to blow up like that?! Why today?! Why on Christmas?!"  
  
"Tori, you didn't even let me finish." He exclaims.  
  
"Why don't you like me?" She cries.  
  
"Tori, I do like you."  
  
"Lies!" She snaps back. "You hate being around me, especially when I'm with your brother!"  
  
"That's because you don't know the whole story!" Hunter began raising his voice up.  
  
"Well then, tell me! You know me well enough to trust me."  
  
Hunter rubs his temples and sighs. "It's too complicated to even explain. You wouldn't understand, nor would you ever feel the same way."  
  
Tori looks at him weirdly. "What are you talking about, Hunter? Try me."  
  
He nods his head in dismay. "No. I can't."  
  
Tori glares at him. "I can't believe you. One minute you're a total sweetheart, and the next, you become a senseless jerk. Why is that when Blake is always around?"  
  
Hunter chuckles. "See...you don't get it." He gets up and looks at her. "Tori, isn't it obvious?"  
  
"What?" She asks in confusion. "Help me out here."  
  
Hunter bit his lip and stares at her for a long moment. He then scratches his head and sighs. "Maybe this will help." He immediately grabbed her face and planted a soft and innocent kiss on her lips. Tori's eyes opened wide- eyed as she felt her lips locked with his. She was now caught in the moment as she finds herself kissing him back. Her hands were shaking nervously as she places them on top of his and slowly lets it go from her face. Their heads slowly move back as they stared at each other in silence. Hunter cracks a little smile as she looks away in surprise, touching her lips. "Wow..." Hunter mumbles.  
  
"Oh my God. That wasn't supposed to happen." She whispers to him. "We can't do this."  
  
Hunter looks at her and sighs. "I'm sorry. That was a bit too--"  
  
"No. Don't be." Tori says getting up. "I'm so sorry. This can't happen again and it won't." Hunter's heart suddenly crashed. He felt the pain of rejection kicking in. "Look I got to go. I have an early flight tomorrow. Merry Christmas, Hunter." She gave him a small smile.  
  
"But wait!" The door closed before he could even say anything. "Merry Christmas to you too, Tori." He sighs and then turns around.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I'm such an idiot." Hunter told himself as he sat on the dining table, popping another soda can. "Why did I even bother to tell her? I just scared her away!" The front door suddenly creaked open. Hunter stood up to see who it was as Dustin came walking in. The dirty blonde sighs as he sat back down.  
  
"I just saw Tori walked out." He says, taking a seat across from him. "She looked out of it. What happened?" Dustin asks as he placed his keys down.  
  
Hunter glares at him. "Well I told her."  
  
Dustin grins excitedly. "You did?! And?"  
  
"She blew me off." He groans sadly.  
  
"What?!" Dustin was surprised. "Dude, what did you say?!"  
  
Hunter sighs. "I just kissed her."  
  
"YOU WHAT?!"  
  
"You heard me. I kissed her." He stated again.  
  
Dustin glares at him. "You idiot! No wonder you skate her off! Why did you?!"  
  
"I don't know. I just got caught up in the moment that's all!" Hunter exclaims. "And plus, action speak louder than words, right?"  
  
The goofball chuckles, "Why do you always have to listen to me?"  
  
He rolls his eyes. "You're the one that told me to tell her how I feel, remember?"  
  
Dustin nods. "But I never told you to kiss her!"  
  
Hunter just shrugs. "Well you know what? It doesn't matter anymore. The truth came out and I regret doing all that. I should've known she was still into Blake. Falling for her was a mistake." Hunter looks away as his eyes began to get watery. Dustin didn't know what to do. He has never seen his roommate in this kind of state; in this mess, which definitely worried him. Hunter was supposed to be strong. The tough one, who was able to hold his emotions and hide from them. But when it comes to Tori...it was impossible for him to.  
  
"Look, wanna go out? It's Christmas and you shouldn't be here." Dustin suggested. "Besides, I just had dinner with Marah and I'm free for the night. We could go riding in the dark or something. It should help you get your mind off of some things."  
  
Hunter pursed his lips and nod. "Alright. Sounds cool." Dustin smiles as he gets up to put on his jacket. "Hey, Dustin." He turns around.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Thanks for everything, man. It's nice to have a brother like you standing up for me."  
  
Dustin looks down and smiles. "No problem, dude. Anytime."


	18. Breaking The Rules

**QUICK SUMMARY**: Hunter goes beyond the limit as he uses his ninja powers in public to get to Tori.   
  
**"Breaking The Rules"**  
  
The Next morning...  
  
"Alright. Let's load this baby up!" Blake exclaims as he began loading Tori's van with bags, luggage's and boxes. The blonde stood against the front door of her house, watching him from afar. She suddenly drifted into space, thinking about the event that happened between her and Hunter that Christmas night. She was still surprised with the kiss they shared. It was an unexpected moment. Tori felt she did the right thing though, but why doesn't she feel satisfied and happy about it? The blonde still couldn't believe that Hunter had feelings for her. It was a bit ironic since the two could hardly get along or really had the chance to hang out and know each other a bit. But that was only the case when Blake was around. And when he left for Factor Blue, she and Hunter became a lot closer than ever. Now Tori knew the truth. Everything suddenly made sense to her. She sighs as she locks the front door to her house and walks to the driveway. Another thing that was bothering her is the way she left Hunter that night. Tori could never get over it, especially the look on his face when she felt what they did was a wrong thing to do. Blake looks up at her in concern. "You alright?" He asks as he opens the passenger seat.  
  
Tori shook her head and nods. "Yeah. I'm fine. Why?"  
  
"You're still not upset about yesterday at the cafe are you?" Blake questions her in curiosity.  
  
She chuckles. "No. You kidding? I'm so past that."  
  
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "You sure? I mean...You seem out of it today, Tor. Have you been getting enough sleep last night?" Tori pursed her lips. She didn't sleep at all last night.  
  
"Actually no." She stated honestly. "I've been thinking a lot, that's all."  
  
Blake bit his lip. "You're not having second thoughts are you? You seem pretty nervous."  
  
Tori nods her head in dismay. "No. Of course not." She forced a smile for his sake. "Anyway. What are we waiting for? Let's go!"  
  
Blake smiles. Before he enters the passenger seat, Blake looks straight ahead at the crimson surfboard that was situated against the garage door. "Are you going to bring that?" He points out. Tori looks at the direction he was pointing at and smiles. It was the early Christmas present Hunter gave her. Now looking at it reminds her of every little thing about him. It reminded her of the time when he took her along to baby-sit Charlie with him on that same day. Those were some of the good times. She looks down and sighs. "Man, it sure reminds me of Hunter." Blake stated with a smirk. "Him being the crimson guy and all." This was definitely killing her. Tori was suddenly missing him. She decided to leave the surfboard behind. She wasn't planning to surf while traveling around the world anyway. Besides, bringing it would remind her too much about Hunter. Was she actually falling for him? What am I thinking?! She thought.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Dude, wake up." Dustin shook Hunter as he sat on the edge of the bed. Hunter slowly turns around and rubs his eyes. He stood up and yawns. "Slept good I see."  
  
Hunter scratches his head and sighs. "Yeah. I guess so."  
  
"Did you have any weird dreams?"  
  
The dirty blonde stops and looks up, thinking. "Actually...no. Not that I remember."  
  
Dustin nods. "Hmm. Thought so. I finally had some peace last night." Hunter chuckles. "Well get ready for work. Kelly is gonna need all the help she can get for the holiday sale today."  
  
Hunter grunts lazily at the thought of going back to work. "Oh yeah. Well, you go on right ahead. I think I'm going to go riding for awhile."  
  
"Riding?" Dustin questions. "Why?"  
  
Hunter shrugs. "I just need to get my mind off of some things. I don't want to be going to work feeling like crap."  
  
The goofball sighs. "You're still not over her are you? I mean we just went riding last night!"  
  
"How can I not get over her in one night?" He groans. "I can't get her off my mind. Not after what happened last night."  
  
"Dude, I totally understand, but Tori is gone now. She picked Blake remember? You're gonna have to forget about her eventually."  
  
Hunter shook his head. He already forgot that Tori was leaving that morning. "No way." Hunter immediately gets up from bed. "When does their flight leave again?" He asks, while putting on his crimson windbreakers and shirt.  
  
"Not sure. Why? Where you going?" Dustin followed him to the bathroom as he watches the dirty blonde wash his face and hair.  
  
"Riding remember?" Hunter grabs the towel to dry himself up.  
  
"Liar." Dustin beams right at him suspiciously.  
  
"Tell Kelly that I'll be late. Give me an hour or so." Hunter says while putting on his shoes. He then went down to his drawer and began throwing out his clothes, trying to find something. "Hmm. Where could it be..."  
  
Dustin stares at him weirdly. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Dude, I can't find the--" He trails off while tossing his boxers and shorts in the air. He found the box he was looking for beneath them and smiles. "Yes! Found it." He gets up.  
  
"The bracelet?" He questions. "You forgot to give it to her?"  
  
"Well, I'm going to." Hunter replies.  
  
"How? You won't even have time to drive over there." Dustin explains. "They're probably checking in and going through security at this point."  
  
"Which is why I'm going to go riding." Hunter puts on his jacket.  
  
"Dude, you'll be stuck in traffic." Dustin says reassuringly with his arms crossed on his chest.  
  
Hunter stops and bit his lip. "Well then...I guess there's only one way..." He stares at him with a smile.  
  
Dustin gives him a quizzical look. "What?" Hunter nods and grins. "Ohh! No way." Dustin suddenly gets it and chuckles. "No, no, NO! You can't."  
  
He groans. "And why not?"  
  
"Dude, Sensei is gonna fry you!"  
  
"Pshhh. " Hunter laughs. "He's too nice to even do that."  
  
"Yeah! But he'll do something!" He exclaims. "Trust me."  
  
"Don't trip, man. It'll just be a one time thing." Hunter answers back.  
  
He nods his head in dismay. "Man.I swear. You and Tori are trouble." The doorbell suddenly rang. Dustin looks up. "That must be Shane."  
  
Hunter went to get it.  
  
"Hey!" Shane smiles as soon as he opens the door. "I just--  
  
"Dude, sorry but go to run!" Hunter darted out the door and began running in the flash of crimson light. Shane and Dustin ran outside after him.  
  
"Wait!" The goofball called out. But it was too late.  
  
"What the--" Shane scratches his head once Hunter disappeared. Dustin sighs as he turns to him. "Didn't he--"  
  
"Yeah." Dustin groans. "He did."  
  
"Didn't we already go over this with Tori?"  
  
He nods.  
  
"And where's he going?"  
  
"I'll give you one guess." Dustin says, looking at him.  
  
Shane nods his head and smirks. "Ohhhhh. Gotcha." He winks.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Oh shoot." Tori looks at the fuel indicator of her van. "We're gonna need to stop for gas." The red light blinked. The fuel tank was now empty. "I'm sorry." She apologizes. "I thought I filled this up."  
  
"Well, stop over there." Blake points at a gas station close by. Tori then makes a turn.  
  
"How much time do we have left?" She asks as soon as she made a complete stop near the gas pumps.  
  
"We have time." He replies, unbuckling his seatbelt.  
  
Tori turns off the ignition and slumps back on the driver's seat. She looks up and immediately saw a flash of crimson light flew by towards the bushes. "Oh my God. Did you see that?" She gasps, sitting up.  
  
Blake turns around. "Saw what?"  
  
Tori's eyes were now focused on the bushes. It's probably Hunter, the blonde thought as a sudden smile drew on her face. She began taking off her seatbelt and opening the door to her van. "Um...never mind." The blonde shook her head. "I'm going to get some air. Do you mind getting the gas and maybe some food?" She asks with her pleading look.  
  
Blake rolls his eyes and smiles. "What do you want?"  
  
Tori shrugs as she handed him some money. "Whatever. I'll be right back." She got out of the van and closed the door shut.  
  
"Don't wander off too far!" He exclaims.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Tori replies in annoyance as she began walking towards the bushes. She sneakily ducked behind the trees and enters the forest. "Hello?" Tori hisses while looking behind her. "Come out wherever you are. I saw you." There was nothing. The blonde sighs as she looks around. "Great. It's probably my imagination." She chuckles to herself.  
  
"Looking for me?" A familiar voice spoke up from behind. Tori turns around and jumps up in surprise. She sighs in relief at the sight of Hunter.  
  
"Gosh. Don't do that!" She gasps.  
  
He laughs at her. "Sorry."  
  
"What are you doing here anyway?" She asks with her hands on her hips.  
  
"Following you." Hunter replies, sitting on a rock. Tori walk towards him.  
  
"Why? You weren't suppose to use your ninja powers in public!" She retorts. "Anyone could've seen you."  
  
"But no one did. I've broken one of Sensei's rules just to get to you. And besides," He continues, "You've done it before."  
  
Tori glares at him. "Let's not go there."  
  
Hunter shook his head. "Anyway, I just came to give you this." He gets up and hands her a small box. "It's the other half of your Christmas present remember?"  
  
Tori nods as she took it from him. She examines the box real closely.  
  
"Well open it." Hunter says, stuffing his hands into his pockets with a grin.  
  
Tori sighs and she slowly looks up at him. "Before I do...I just want to apologize about last night--"  
  
Hunter cuts her off. "Look. I should be the one saying sorry. I should have not kissed you like that."  
  
The blonde looks down. "No. I was in total shock, that's all. I never really expected you to ever--"  
  
"Just open the box and pretend none of that ever happened okay?" He lets out a small chuckle. "You know...I don't want to put you on the spot and have you feel sorry for me. I totally understand that you like Blake. You're happiness is what counts and I don't want to ruin that." Tori looks away as Hunter goes on. "Tor, I guess what I wanted to tell you last night was the fact that I have feelings for you. I've been trying to get myself to tell you for so long, but I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same way." He looks down and sighs. "But that doesn't matter anymore." Tori looks up at him.  
  
"Of course it matters." Her voice suddenly cracks. "Your feelings mean a lot to me and I want you to be happy too."  
  
"Tori, I'm happy just standing right in front of you for the last time." He smiles sweetly at her. "Well in a long time before you leave."  
  
Tori looks away, feeling overwhelmed. "Oh gosh. Stop. You're going to make me cry now."  
  
Hunter puts his arms around her and grins. "Just open the box."  
  
Tori smiles as she slowly lifts the lid off. Her eyes widened as she took the charm bracelet out of the box. "Oh my Gosh."  
  
Hunter bit his lip. "So you like it?"  
  
"Like it?" She splutters out. "I love it!"  
  
"Here. Let me." Hunter took the bracelet and assists her in putting it on. He puts it around her wrist and locks it up. "There."  
  
Tori shakes her wrists as little bells chine on the bracelet. She looks up at him tenderly and smiles. "Thank you." She whispers.  
  
"You're welcome." He glances down at her and smiles back. The two stared at each other for a long moment as the slight gust of wind blew strands of hair away from their faces. Tori bit her lip as she took one step near him. Hunter began breathing nervously as he slowly leans forward and lifts her chin up. He began feeling her warm breath gently on his face. Tori closes her eyes and slightly tilts her head when suddenly Blake calls her name. Hunter and Tori immediately stepped back from one another in surprise.  
  
"Tori?!" He yells out once more.  
  
Hunter scratches his head and sighs. "You should go now. Don't want to keep my brother waiting." The blonde looks down. What was I thinking, she thought. I was about to kiss him. Tori was suddenly confused. "Bye."  
  
She turns around. "Wait!" Hunter already disappeared in a flash of light. "Bye." She whispers sadly.  
  
"Tori?" Blake kneeled down, all out of breath. "Whom were you talking to?" He asks, standing right in front of her. She turns around and sighs.  
  
"Oh nothing." She smiles and then frowns.  
  
Blake wrinkles his forehead. "Are you okay?"  
  
Tori looks up and nods. "Yeah. Now I am." She smiles at Blake as the two headed back to the van.  



	19. Finding Happiness

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Hunter gets advice from an unlikely source as Tori and Blake arrives at the airport.  
  
**"Finding Happiness"**  
  
"Man, where could he be?" Dustin asks himself quietly as he began pacing back and forth in front of Storm Chargers. Kelly stares at him weirdly from inside the store as she exits and goes up to him from behind.   
  
"What are you doing?" She asks, holding up a clipboard and pen.   
  
Dustin brushes his hair and looks at her. "Oh Kel, yeah. Um...I'm just..." He stutters nervously while looking at his yellow watch. "Yeah...uhh right. Honestly..." The goofball chuckles. "I don't know what I'm doing."  
  
Kelly raised her eyebrows as she watches more customers entering the store. "OK. Well umm...maybe you should help me out with the cash register because...YEAH...the store is quite busy and I suggest you go back inside and get back to work or else I'll get your butt fired." She replies with a smile. "Let's not get into that."  
  
Dustin grins and nods. "Right. On it!" He says, going back inside.   
  
"Thank you." She turns back around and rolls her eyes.   
  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Momentarily, Hunter was at the beach, sitting on his motorbike. He parked on the sands, and stood there, enjoying the scenery and atmosphere the beach was providing. There were surfers in the waters getting wiped out, people swimming, little kids building castles, and couples having an enjoyable picnic. He sighs at the imagery he became a part in and at the same time, didn't want to be a part in. Not alone that is. Everything about the beach - the waters, sandy grounds, and winds - reminded him so much about Tori. The way she goes out there and puts her life on the line to do what she does best. Not talking about saving the world though during those ranger days, but how she goes on her surfboard and gets chased by clashing waves that are about to attack as soon as you hit the water. Hunter also remembers how Tori use to go to the beach to reflect on things, to keep herself from her troubles and think about happy thoughts. But he could only think about her at the moment. How she is now leaving with his one and only brother. How it sucks to lose the girl you've been wanting to be with over your own family...again. And how it painfully hurts to put all your feelings out there and suddenly get nothing from it. How life could be so unfair. All this seems very familiar to him. Hunter sighs deeply as he closes his eyes.   
  
Suddenly, two attractive young women came up to him, wearing bikinis. They all giggled and stared at him flirtatiously. Hunter slowly looks up at them and raises his eyebrows.  
  
"Uhh...can I help you?" He asks, getting ready to put on his helmet and leave at that very moment  
  
The girls giggled excitedly again. "Hi!" The one with the long dark brown hair squeals. "My name is Brittany and we think you're totally hot!" Hunter wrinkles his forehead and looks away in pleased embarrassment.   
  
"Uh...thanks. I guess." He replies weirdly, clearing out his throat. "I'm Hunter."  
  
"Well, Hunter..." She smiles widely while shaking his hand, "Me and my friend here, Tracy wanted to know if you want to hang with us."   
  
He grins in amazement. "Umm...that's nice of you ladies, but I think I'll pass."   
  
The blonde one frowns. "Oh come on! You know you want to." She added seductively.   
  
"Yeah! And it'll be fun." Brittany winks.   
  
Hunter nods his head in dismay and chuckles. "Sorry. Not interested. Check out those other guys over there." He points at the surfers in the waters. "I bet they're good looking, don't you think, ladies?"   
  
They glare evilly at him and rolled their eyes. "Uh...right. Fine. Have it your way." Brittany says with an attitude.   
  
"Whatever." Tracy retorts abruptly as they walked away from him. Hunter stares at their direction and lets out a small laugh.  
  
"Girls these days." He whispers to himself as he picked up his helmet.   
  
"Are you nuts boy?" A voice came from behind chuckles. Hunter turns around and squints his eyes.   
  
"You talking to me?" He asks, unsure of himself.   
  
A middle-aged woman wearing loose clothing and a bonnet on her head smiles at him. She was situated under a tent, behind a table with a sign that read PSYCHIC READING. She signals him to come over. Hunter sighs as he gets up from his motorbike and walk towards her. "You know, those were gorgeous girls." She mentions all of a sudden once he stood in front of her. "You were pretty luck till you stomped them off."  
  
Hunter sighs. "Yeah. I know they are." He then scratches his head. "You didn't bring me here just to make fun of me did you?"   
  
She laughs. "No, honey. I'm sorry. Let's start over. I'm Madame Teresa and you are?"  
  
"Hunter. Hunter Bradley."   
  
"Nice to meet you, Hunter." Madame Teresa greeted him warmly. "Please. Sit down."  
  
"Oh no." He chuckles, stepping away from the empty chair. "I was about to leave."   
  
"What's with the rush?" She smiles. "Please. I insist."  
  
Hunter sighs. "Look, Madame. Not to be rude or anything, I can't be here. I got to get to work." He replies and turns around.   
  
"There's something wrong with this picture." Madame Teresa says while tapping her lips with her finger. "Your sad...I can tell, which explains why you don't want those girls hanging all over you."   
  
Hunter stops and slowly turns around. He stares at the psychic with mere curiosity.   
  
"And with this...I assume it has to do with a special girl you have in your mind eh?" She asks all of a sudden.   
  
He shakes his head and chuckles. "I'm not going to pay 10 dollars for a psychic reading."  
  
"Oh! Don't be silly, boy. Come here. This one is on me." Madame Teresa replies generously. "And don't worry about your job. You won't get fired. Trust me. I know."  
  
Hunter nods his head. "I don't believe in psychics. Sorry."  
  
"Oh?" She smirks. "So there's no special girl in your life?"   
  
Hunter looks down and pursed his lips. Madame Teresa smiles. "Okay, I take that as a yes."  
  
"Fine. Tell me how I am feeling right now." He says, sitting down across from her.   
  
She smiles and carefully studies him while taking his hand. "Well...from looking at your expressions, you are feeling sad...lonely...depress...and angry at the same time. Your eyes are telling me that you want something, or should I say someone."   
  
Hunter stares at the ground and sighs. "Great. Took the words out of my mind."  
  
"You are also confused. Lost." Madame Teresa adds. "Hunter, I can feel that you're having mixed feelings; emotions with this girl. And right now, I see that you are trying to get over her because..." She trails off and closes her eyes. "Oh...this is bad..." She pauses and raised an eyebrow.   
  
Hunter stood up. "What? What is bad?"  
  
"There are two of you." She says, looking at him. "I see another person getting in between you and this girl, am I right?"  
  
His eyes open wide. "Yeah! How did you know that?"  
  
Madame Teresa laughs at him. "Sweetie, I already told you. I'm a psychic."  
  
"Well, what else can you tell me? Do you see happiness?" He asks anxiously.  
  
"Oh yeah." She replies, putting her hand over his. "Great happiness will come to you. Sooner than you know."  
  
Hunter cracked a little smile on his face and then sighs at the thought of Tori.   
  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
_"Flight 102 is now boarding. Flight 102 is now boarding."_ The airport announced from the speaker. _"One way flight to North Harbor. North Harbor."_ They repeated once again. Tori sat on a bench near the gate as her eyes began to slowly close. Blake wasn't around as people began standing up and waiting in line to board the plane. The blonde lays her head down and immediately fell right to sleep...  
  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
_"Tori!"   
  
The blonde surprisingly rises from the bench and looked around to see where the voice was coming from. The images were blurry as she began rubbing her eyes. She stared at the people that surrounded her. Tori suddenly felt confused and lost as all eyes were on her. "What are you guys looking at?" The blonde asks as the people gave her nothing in response, but all smiles. She groans in annoyance. Man. I wonder where Blake is at, Tori thought while brushing her hair back away from her face. She puts her hands on her hips and sighs. "Excuse me." Tori says politely as she tries to cut through, but no one would budge. She chuckles. "Can you guys move please?"   
  
"Tori!"   
  
She turns around again. "What? Who's there?!"   
  
Tori stares at the mob of people as they began to move aside to form an aisle. The blonde squints her eyes when suddenly Hunter appears in the middle of the crowd. Tori's mouth slightly opens at the sight of him. He smiles as soon as he stood right in front of her. 'Hunter?" She questions in shock. "W-What are you doing here?"  
  
"SHH..." He smiles while touching her lips with his fingertips. Hunter then takes her hand and looks at the bracelet around her wrist. "Never lose this Tori." He says while kissing it.   
  
Tori gives him a confused look. "I don't understand. What happens if I do?"  
  
"You and Hunter would never be together." The crowd all said in unison. "Ever again." Tori wrinkles her forehead.  
  
"That's right." Another voice came from behind. The people all turned around and gasp. It was Blake. Hunter stood in front of Tori as if he was protecting her. Silence suddenly cast over them as tension rises. "Bro, stay away from Tori. She's coming with me, remember?"  
  
Hunter smirks. "Not a chance, dude."  
  
"Oh? Is that how it is?" Blake evilly glares at him. "You traitor!"  
  
"Why won't you just turn around and fly away home. You don't need to waist Tori's time. She's better off here where she belongs."   
  
"With you?" Blake laughs hysterically. "Whew, Hunter. You sure do make me laugh."  
  
"Guys, stop it!" Tori cries angrily as she stands in between the two. "This is crazy!"  
  
Blake smirks as he grabs her hand and stares at the bracelet. He glares evilly at it and abruptly snatched it from Tori's wrist. The blonde gasps as she went to get it from him. "Hey! Give that back!"  
  
"No." He tells her sharply. "You're too good for Hunter and this..." Blake adds, lifting the bracelet "is a spell that makes you fall for him."  
  
"NO!" Hunter yells at him. "Not true!"  
  
"What?" Blake chuckles. "You think jewelry is gonna help you win her heart? Bro, I don't think so!"   
  
"Of course not!" Hunter snaps back. "But it will definitely provide her the guiding light she needs..." He trails off looking at her, "to find where her heart truly belongs to..."  
  
Tori smiles at him.   
  
His little brother rolls his eyes. "Touching." Blake says sarcastically. "Too bad she doesn't feel the same way. Right Tori?" The blonde was now drifting into space. Hunter stares at her weirdly as Blake waved a hand to get her attention. "Yo, Tor." He whistles. "You there? Tori."  
  
"Tori."  
  
"Tori..."  
_  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Yo, Tori." Blake bent down and nudges her shoulder. "Tori, wake up." The blonde slowly opens her eyes. She looks around where people were still in line. Tori then stood up and looked at Blake.   
  
"What's going on?" She asked with a yawn.  
  
He smiles warmly at her. "We're about to board the plane, but you fell right asleep."   
  
"Oh." Tori rubs her eyes. "I just had a weird dream. I hope we're not too late." She says, rising from her seat. She turned around to see if Hunter was around, but then she realized it was only a dream. Tori sighs to herself and suddenly remembered about the bracelet. She held up her hand to see if it was still there, and luckily it was. Whew, she thought. Blake stares at it weirdly.   
  
"Nice." He commented. "Where'd you get that?"   
  
Tori looks at the charm bracelet and smiles. "Um...Hunter gave it to me." She replies with a smile.   
  
Blake raised an eyebrow. "Hunter?" He chuckles. "Wow. My brother actually has a heart...no offense or anything, but I never expected him to give you something so valuable considering how last year went."  
  
The blonde looks up at him. "Yeah. Why? Is it hard to believe?"  
  
"Well..." He continues, sticking his hands into his pockets. "The last time he actually bought jewelry for someone was when he was going out with this girl he took to the prom. But that was a few years ago." Blake replies with a nod.   
  
"Ohhh...What happened?" Tori asks in curiosity.   
  
He bit his lip and looks down. "Umm...it was actually my fault."  
  
"Your fault?" She questions. "Why? What did you do?"  
  
Blake sighs. He didn't feel like talking about it, but since it was Tori, it was easy for him to. It was her response and reaction he was afraid of. "During the time they were going out I--" He suddenly pauses. Blake looks at her and sighs.  
  
"You what?" She asks calmly.   
  
Blake pursed his lips. "I started liking her." He replies honestly. "Which screwed everything up..." Tori couldn't believe it. She looks away and closed her eyes.   
  
This sounds too familiar, she thought. "Why did you?" The blonde wonders.   
  
"We didn't do anything if that's what you're thinking." Blake exclaims immediately. "I would never do that to my brother. I just couldn't help the way I feel, and keeping it as a secret from them totally killed me."  
  
"So what happened?"  
  
He sighs again deeply. "She didn't want to get in between me and Hunter so she ended it with him. It was also on the same day when she told me how she felt...and we end up liking each other all along."  
  
"Boy, that sucks." Tori looks down and blew strands of her hair away from her face. She paused for a minute and realized that she was stuck in a similar situation.   
  
"Yeah..." Blake turns around. "Well anyway, time to move on right? I already have my eye on someone else." He adds with a wink. "What's in the past stays in the past. We should get going, Tor." He says as the line became shorter. "We might miss our flight." Tori stops to think as she dropped her bags on the floor. Blake spins around again once he felt a slight vibration of Tori's bags hitting the ground. He looks up and gives Tori a confused stare. "What are you doing?" He asks, swinging his bags around. "Come on."  
  
"How do you really feel about me, Blake?" Tori asks with her arms crossed.   
  
He sighs and scratches his head. "Can we talk about this in the plane, please?"   
  
"No." She tells him seriously. "I want the truth. Convince me to go with you."   
  
_"Flight 102 is departing in 10 minutes."_ They announced from the speakers. "_Flight 102 is departing in 10 minutes_." Blake looks at his watch and sighs.   
  
"What can I say? You're beautiful, smart, athletic, funny...and everything I want in a girl." He replies with a smile. "I wouldn't be inviting you to come tour with me if I didn't have these strong feelings for you."   
  
Tori presses her lips together. "What's more important to you then? Your career or me?"  
  
Blake couldn't believe what he is hearing. He stood in front of Tori in shock. "Why did you even bother to ask that question? Of course you're more important."   
  
"So you care about my feelings and what I think?"  
  
He nods his head quickly. "Of course I do. Your happiness means a lot to me."   
  
Tori gives Blake a serious look. "Oh? You want me to be happy?" She says, repeating herself. "Then it's my turn to tell you how I really feel."   
  
Blake stares at her nervously as Tori closes her eyes and sighs. He began to feel the quickness of his heart beating and the back of his neck sweating. Is she gonna back out on me, he thought worriedly. She opens her eyes once again and smiles at him, taking a deep breath.   
  
Here it goes, she thought.


	20. No Hard Feelings

**QUICK SUMMARY:** Hunter dwells on his past as Blake calls it truce with him. Does he know about his feelings towards Tori?

**"No Hard Feelings"**  
  
"I can't believe this always happens to me!" Hunter exclaims angrily as he continued to vent over his problems with Madame Teresa at the beach. She sits and listens with great interest. "I've lost my first girlfriend during high school...and now Tori." He sighs deeply. "When will this ever stop? Every time I turn around my brother is always there." Madame looks at him with great sympathy. "Maybe this proves how bad I am with women."  
  
She lets out a small chuckle. "That's not true, Hunter."  
  
"Then why do I always lose?" He asks, looking at her. "I mean, I've never felt this way about a girl my whole life." Hunter explains seriously. "After my break up with Natalie, I never thought I could look at another girl."  
  
"Till you met Tori." Madame Teresa adds as Hunter nods his head. "You must really like her."  
  
"Yeah, I really do. Funny how my brother and I end up falling for the same girl." He says looking down. "And she ends up feeling the same way about him too."  
  
Madame Teresa stares at the dirty blonde in awed. "Hunter, why do you think Natalie even broke up with you the first place?"  
  
He stops to think. "Well...she didn't want to get in between me and Blake."  
  
"Exactly. You see, that's how much she cares about you. Natalie doesn't want to ruin anything. Family is far too important to risk over a girl." Madame Teresa explains. "And plus, think about how Blake would feel if you were still with her."  
  
Hunter stares at the ground and sighs. "You're right. Now I know how it feels."  
  
-------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Argh!" Dustin came walking in the lounge room where Shane was taking his break and watching TV. He took a seat next to him and pouts. Shane turns his head and stares at him weirdly.  
  
"What's up your butt?" He asks with a chuckle.  
  
Dustin beams right at him and rubs his neck. "It's Hunter. I'm worried about him. He's been gone for hours now and I'm all worked!" He splutters out exaggeratedly. "I'm so gonna get him when he arrives."  
  
"Dude, give it some time. You know how he feels about Tori leaving." Shane adds.  
  
"I know." Dustin sighs. "But it's not like him, man."  
  
"Yeah..." Shane nods in agreement. "I know what you mean. Hunter's been kinda edgy these days, but who could blame him? Two brothers over one girl is bad news."  
  
Dustin suddenly gives him the evil eye. "I told you." He hissed.  
  
Shane wrinkles his forehead and plasters a confused look on his face. "What? Told me what?"  
  
"Weren't you the one that told me it was okay for Hunter to like Tori?"  
  
He stop to think for a bit. "Uhh....yeah. So?"  
  
"So! Look what you did!" Dustin yells, getting up. "You made Hunter think that it was okay to like Tori and I said that it was a bad idea because...YEAH..Blake obviously likes her too! But noooo...you didn't listen to me and look what it brought them to! Total drama, man!"  
  
The customers gave them curious stares as Dustin and Shane try to avoid them.  
  
"Hey!" Shane rises up to face him. "You are not gonna put this all out on me." He groans at him. "And plus, I wasn't the one that told Hunter to tell Tori how he feels, now did I?!" Shane smirks as Dustin looks down and remained silent.  
  
"God. What's with the commotion over here?" Their boss Kelly walks in. Shane and Dustin quickly turns around.  
  
"Uh...hey, Kel!" Dustin smiles at her. "We were just umm--"  
  
"Talking!" Shane adds, cooling off. Dustin rolls his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I can see that." Kelly gives them a sudden glare. They all exchanged looks. "Well anyway," She clears out her throat. "Get back to work you two. Customers are swarming all over the place and we're gonna need all the help we can get."  
  
The guys nodded.  
  
"Where's Hunter by the way?" She asks all of a sudden. Shane and Dustin gave each other stares. "Umm..." The goofball starts off, scratching his head. "I have no clue." Kelly turns to Shane.  
  
"Hey. Don't look at me." He raised an eyebrow. "I don't know anything."  
  
Kelly sighs. "Did you guys try to get a hold of him?" They both nodded their heads in dismay. "Great." She pursed her lips. "I hope he's okay and shows up soon. Let me know if he does." She nods and leaves them.  
  
Shane and Dustin beamed right at each other as they went their separate ways.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------  
  
"I should've not kissed her." Hunter sighs as Madame Teresa listens carefully. "I don't know what got over me. She looked confused...lost, and I was caught up in the moment. I should've just told her how I felt."  
  
Madame Teresa chuckles. "Well actions do speak louder than words, sweetie."  
  
"But it was such an impulsive thing to do!" He exclaims. "I don't know...after I did it she looked scared, and that's like the last thing I would ever want to do to Tori...besides hurting her of course."  
  
"Okay, from what you're telling me, maybe you did went a little bit too far with the kiss, but she kissed you back right?" She asks with a grin.  
  
"Well...yeah..." Hunter smiles a bit. "It was nice."  
  
Madame Teresa smirks. "You know what?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Whether Tori wants to admit it or not, this girl is definitely into you. I mean the fact that she kissed you back and enjoys your company makes it all obvious."  
  
Hunter raised an eyebrow. "You know, if Tori had feelings for me, she would've stayed here at Blue Bay Harbor."  
  
"Well...that's true, but what if she comes back?" She questions him. "Or.... when she does come back?"  
  
He shrugs his shoulders. "I doubt it."  
  
Madame Teresa peers and winks at him. "I wouldn't doubt myself if I were you. It's highly possible. But I mean come on! What would you do?"  
  
Hunter presses his lips together and scratches the back of his head. "Honestly, I wouldn't know."  
  
There was a long pause when suddenly his cell phone went on. Madame jumped up in surprise as he dug through his crimson windbreakers to take it out. She chuckles. "Sorry. Excuse me." He says, turning around and flipping his cell phone open. "Hello?" He answers, covering his open ear with a finger to block the loud noise.  
  
"Hey, Hunter. It's me Blake." He replies.  
  
The dirty blonde got his full attention as he felt the urge to hang up on him; for he didn't feel like hearing from his little brother at the moment. "Oh. Hey." Hunter answers back halfheartedly. "What do you want?"  
  
"Well we're taking off pretty soon and I just want to tell you, no hard feelings alright?"  
  
Hunter wrinkles his forehead in confusion. Oh my god. Does he know? He thought. "Oh?" Hunter didn't know what to say in reply. "Okay..."  
  
"Yeah...umm, I just want you to be happy that's all." Blake adds with great certainty. "Anyway, take care, bro. I'll call when I get back."  
  
"Uh yeah. Sure thing." Hunter cracks a little smile. "Later." He hangs up and closes his phone. Hunter pursed his lips and slowly turns to Madame Teresa. "That was weird." He says.  
  
"Who was it?" She asks in curiosity.  
  
"It was my brother, Blake." Hunter answers, looking down. "He said no hard feelings between us."  
  
Madame Teresa raised a brow. "Oh really..."  
  
"Yeah." He rubbed his eyes. "Do you think he knows?" She shrugs. "Man, I wonder how he found out." Hunter thought. "Better yet, who told him?"  
  
"I did." A familiar voice answers from behind.  
  
Madame Teresa looks up and smiles. "Is that her?"  
  
Hunter turns around and opens his eyes wide. "Tori?"


	21. His Charm

**QUICK SUMMARY: Tori comes back…now what?**

**"His Charm"**  
  
The breeze started kicking in at the beach as Hunter and Tori stood apart from each other for a long moment under a tree. The wind swept Tori's blonde hair away from her face as the bright sun gave her the spotlight. Madame Teresa stares at them in awed as she stood there to watch with excitement. "Tori..." Hunter starts off to break the silence. "What are you doing here? I thought you left..."  
  
She smiles at him and stares at the ground nervously. "Actually...no."  
  
Hunter was too surprise to even believe Tori was standing in front of him right before his eyes, and yet distracted from her luxurious beauty that blended so well with the beach's surroundings. "Wow..." He chuckles while stuffing his hands into his pockets. "What are you doing back here?"  
  
Tori pursed her lip. "Well, I felt that leaving Blue Bay Harbor was a bad idea. I mean when I was at the airport, I started missing you guys already and I didn't think I could cope with the fact that I'll be miles away from home."  
  
Hunter nods his head and grins. "Was that the only reason?" He asks, lifting his eyebrows.  
  
"Umm..." She looks away and smiles wide. "Well...No..." Madame Teresa suddenly held onto her clothing nervously. "The main reason why I came back was because of you." Tori says in relief. "I umm...realized that I--" She trails off, breathing uneasily. "That I actually have feelings for you." Hunter suddenly felt the uplifting spirit he hadn't felt for so long. He felt so happy, but yet confused at the same time. Mixed Emotions came spilling over; for he had no clue what to say nor did he ever expect this to happen. Madame Teresa leans forward, anxiously waiting for Hunter's response. Tori stood there blankly, without knowing what was coming. "Well say something." She splutters out with a small chuckle. "Can't you see I'm a nervous wreck?"  
  
Hunter nods his head and smiles at her. "Yeah. I can see that. But it's cute." Tori rolls her eyes and chuckles. "Well umm..." He starts off, looking away, and then facing her with an uncertainty expression that spread all over his face. "I don't know, Tor. I hate being in this position right now..." Tori began to feel a knot in her stomach. "I don't like seeing you stuck in the middle between me and Blake, especially after--"  
  
"You and your first girlfriend broke up. Yeah I know." Tori sighs, fiddling with the bracelet Hunter gave her. "Blake told me."  
  
"Oh..." He looks down. "Well yeah..."  
  
"Sorry about that." She apologizes.  
  
Hunter nods his head. "No. Don't be. It's okay."  
  
There was a sudden moment of silence. Tori sighs as she covers her face and brushes her hair back. "My God, what am I doing?" She asks herself, while her blue eyes began to swell up.  
  
"What? What's wrong?" Hunter asks in concern.  
  
"Don't you get it? I came back just so I can be with you." She exclaims. "I took that huge leap so I wouldn't miss the opportunity to be with you. Honestly, I never thought I'd be closer to you than I am right now. But you definitely lift me off my feet and surprise me in so many ways, which is what I admire so much about you, Hunter." Tori explain truthfully. "Just when I found out you feel the same way...I didn't know what to do. And when I finally decide to let it all out, knowing you'd be maybe happy about it I assume...you are suddenly pushing me away..."  
  
Hunter sighs as he turns around and looks at Madame Teresa. He smiles at her and faces Tori. "Tori, I care about you so much. You know that. But Blake is like my only family and he cares deeply for you, like I once felt with Natalie. And I know how it is when it comes to your own brother, liking the same girl.  
  
Tori pursed her lips and stares at the ground. "You don't need to explain. I totally understand." She nods, forcing a smile. You are such an idiot, boy. Madame Teresa thought. Tell her everything. Tori sighs at the fact that she already blew it with Hunter. There was no chance. Being involved with two brothers slowly became a huge mistake, and she had no idea how to forgive herself for it. Tori stood a few feet away from Hunter in awkward silence.  
  
"But..." He continues, slowly looking at Tori. "When you care about someone genuinely...to the point where you are willing to fall in love with that person..." Hunter suddenly trails off, completely lost in her eyes. "Then that's when I'll take the risk and take my chances." He stated with a smile.  
  
Madame Teresa looks on in surprise with a hand over her mouth. "AWWWW!" She squeals excitedly. "You go, boy!"  
  
Tori looks to see whom it was. "A psychic?" She chuckles looking at him. "I thought you don't believe in them."  
  
"Girl, now he does." Madame Teresa rises up from her seat and walks over to them. "You should see him today. He was talking about how much he misses you, cares for you, and all that touchy stuff. Oh yeah, he is so descriptive as well in how he--"  
  
"Okay now." Hunter murmurs in annoyance as Tori chuckles.  
  
"Well what are you two just standing there for?" Madame Teresa grins as she looks up above them. Hunter and Tori exchange looks as they look up as well. And there stood a hanging mistletoe, situated right above them on the tree.  
  
"How did that get there?" Tori asks, beaming at Hunter from the corner of her eye.  
  
He stares at Madame Teresa and smiles at her. "You planned this all along didn't you? You knew this was going to happen."  
  
Madame Teresa sniggers. "Gee...what can I say? I'm a psychic after all." She winks. Hunter and Tori laughs at her. "Well you two, are you guys going to kiss or what?" She asks with her arms crossed.  
  
Hunter turns to Tori as she looks away with a smile on her face. She presses her lips together and slowly faces Hunter. He smiles sweetly at her as he slowly leans forward and kissed her gently on the lips. Tori gradually wrap her arms around his neck as Hunter placed his hands on her hips. The two began going deeper with the kiss as it turned into a passionate one. Madame Teresa grins as they slowly moved their heads back and smile at one another.  
  
"Wow..." Hunter breathed heavily. "This isn't a dream."  
  
Tori smiles at him. "No, it's not."  
  
"I'm glad." He smiles again as he slowly locked hands with her and kissed it.  
  
"Hmm. This charm bracelet is sure lucky, don't you think?" Tori mentions all of a sudden, sticking her tongue out jokingly.  
  
Hunter chuckles. "Oh yeah...and I have one right in front of me."  
  
-------------------------------------------------------  
  
_T H E  E N D_


End file.
